On a conference call with reporters today, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) said he expected a government shutdown to be avoided, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Said Kirk, "Democrats should give on spending proposals because we need more discipline and Republicans should give on the the extraneous policy riders so that government does not shut down," a reference to the House GOP move to defund Planned Parenthood’s women health services.
A shut down could still be averted, Kirk said. "There is precious little distance between the President and the Speaker over spending," Kirk said.
[…]
Kirk predicts no shutdown: "These things have a way of wrapping themselves up around 10, 11’o clock in the evening," Kirk said.
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