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| House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) |
USZ lawmakers have warned that a new budget stalemate over federal funding of disaster relief assistance could lead to a government shutdown if a deal is not reached by the end of this month. Republicans and Democrats locked horns over how to financially extend assistance to numerous states hit by the recent Hurricane Irene and subsequent flooding. Republicans have said any new relief funds should be offset by cuts in other services, AFP reported. The Republican-led House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor accused the Democratic Senate leadership of causing the stalemate. Cantor said that if the government is forced to curtail services, "it will be on Leader Reid's shoulders, because he's the one playing politics with it."
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blamed House Republicans for not keeping their word. "I'm not that sure (that a shutdown will be averted), because the House of Representatives has been so unreasonable in the past, I don't know why they should suddenly be reasonable", Reid said. The Senate has approved the release of $6.9 billion for disaster relief included in the budgets for fiscal 2011 and 2012. In the House, however, the Republican leadership is working toward approval of $1 billion for the current year and $2.6 billion for fiscal 2012.
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