Washington (AFP) - With their leadership clinging to its
strategy of demanding changes to the health care law, some rank-and-file
Republicans acknowledged Saturday that ending the US government
shutdown requires a new game plan.
Without question, a repeal or
delay of the law known as "Obamacare" remains a top priority for
Republican lawmakers, who for weeks have insisted on making any bill
that funds government contingent on rolling back President Barack
Obama's signature domestic achievement.
But a handful of Tea
Party-supported conservatives have publicly backed off that fight, one
which caused deep rifts within the Republican Party and led to some very
public sniping among Republicans on the Senate floor.
With the
shutdown battle being subsumed by debate over the need to raise the debt
ceiling in the next two weeks, they said the focus needs to shift to
strictly fiscal issues.
"I won't be happy with that but I
recognize the writing on the wall," congressman Doug Lamborn told
reporters during a rare weekend session for the House of
Representatives.
"We've
tried a lot of things, and maybe used every arrow in our quiver against
Obamacare. It has not been successful, so I think we do have to move on
to the larger issues of the debt ceiling and the overall budget."
That is no small admission from the man National Journal named in 2010 as the most conservative member of the House.
He was joined by congressman Dennis Ross, another favorite of the anti-tax, pro-small-government Tea Party movement.
"Pride, I think, has got to be swallowed here, probably on both sides," Ross said.
"We're so close to the debt ceiling that I think the two will continue to be combined as we go forward."
The
US Treasury says it will run out of money to pay creditors on October
17, triggering a potentially calamitous default unless Congress votes to
raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling.
Despite the approaching
crisis, Republican leadership suggested Saturday that "Obamacare"
remained the lynchpin in the party's strategy.
"The Republican
position has continued to be, no special treatment under the law, no
special treatment under Obamacare," number two House Republican Eric
Cantor said.
The White House has held firm that it will accept no
changes to the Affordable Care Act, and Ross appeared frustrated with
his party's failure to adapt to the political reality that linking
Obamacare with the funding of government would be a non-starter.
"I think expectations were built up to a level that could not be delivered," he said.
Some conservatives were refusing to budge.
"We have to get something on Obamacare," congressman Jim Jordan told Bloomberg TV on Friday.
"If
you want to get this country on a fiscal path to balance, you can not
let an entitlement of this size that will truly bankrupt the country
and, more importantly, one that's not going to help Americans with their
health care. You can't let this happen."
The Tea Party flank has
been criticized by Democrats like Senate Majority Harry Reid as
legislative "anarchists" gunning for a shutdown.
"We are not a bunch of hard-headed fools," said Republican congressman Blake Farenthold.
"If
we can come up with ways to fix the economy and get the same bang for
the buck you would get with Obamacare, let's do it," he added, saying he
envisioned negotiations on tax and entitlement reform in the debt limit
fight.
"The Obamacare battle I think will live to be fought another day."
Republicans
and senior aides say they want to extract some concessions for raising
the debt ceiling, such as matching the debt ceiling hike with
dollar-for-dollar reductions in federal spending.
"Not a blank check to the president. That's not in the cards," Lamborn warned.
As
Americans steam over Congress's inability to keep government open, some
Republicans were seeking an escape hatch, to the point of even bucking
leadership.
Two-term congressman Scott Rigell told AFP he wanted
to see Republican "individual members who perhaps are not in leadership,
to identify in advance some solution set" that could draw enough
bipartisan support for reopening government and raising the debt
ceiling.
"If that comes from leadership, wonderful. If it comes from more grass roots, that may be needed."