The Hill News

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is working with Democrats to craft a compromise to fund the government despite striking "a different pose publicly," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday.

In a press statement, Schumer said Boehner's call on Monday for additional spending cuts above and beyond $33 billion is political posturing.

“A compromise on the budget is right there for the taking, assuming the Speaker still wants one," Schumer said. "We take it for granted that because of the intense political pressure being applied by the Tea Party, the Speaker needs to play an outside game as well as an inside game. As long as he continues to negotiate, it’s OK by us if he needs to strike a different pose publicly."

Schumer said that despite claims from Boehner and other top Republicans, Democrats and Republicans have gotten closer to a final compromise on a  longterm spending bill.

"Since last week, the two sides have mad! e steady progress on a package of $33 billion in cuts," Schumer said.

Schumer said that Democrats and Republicans are actually very close to striking a deal ahead of the April 8 deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

"At this point, we are so far down the road towards an agreement, and so little time remains before Friday’s deadline, that it would be a dramatic about-face for the Speaker to suddenly let things devolve into a shutdown, as many in the Tea Party are urging," Schumer said. "As a result, we remain hopeful a deal will be reached."

In what appeared to be a coordinated move earlier Monday, top Republicans released press statements denying recent claims by Democrats that the two parties were close to agree! ing on a longterm federal spending bill centered around $33 bi! llion in spending cuts.

"I look forward to continuing these discussions, but for those discussions to be meaningful it will require the White House and Senate Democrats to bring a serious proposal to carry out the people’s will of cutting spending," Boehner said in a statement.

The seeming contradictory statements are a continuation from last week where Republicans said they were no closer to reaching a deal, while Democrats said they were confident a compromise around the $33 billion figure was within reach.

Even so, sources close to the negotiations have recently echoed the Democrats' statements that a deal was near.