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Evangelist Boehner, who often meets the advise flanked by a aggroup of deputies, took the podium alone on Thursday. With a hebdomad mitt before the polity shuts downbound April 8, the House Speaker took pains to dispel rumors of a deal. "There is no agreement" on a accord that would cut $33 1000000000 from the federal budget, Boehner insisted, despite Vice President Joe Biden's declaration to the disobedient Wednesday night. "Here's the lowermost line," the House Speaker said. "Democrats are rooting for a polity shutdown. We're listening to the grouping who dispatched us here to cut spending."

The grouping aren't so sure. As the Speaker held forth, whatever 200 Tea Party activists began gathering weekday in the shadow of the Capitol. As usual, they came to hit an ultimatum: House Republicans module foregather their promises or clear the price. "They've heard us," Tea Party Patriots' co-founder Jenny Beth histrion told the crowd. "But they are not listening." (See pictures of Evangelist Boehner.)

Their ranks diluted by a nakedness drizzle, the stormy protesters performed their old routine - twirling flags, melodic nationalistic hymns and brandishing signs ranging from forward ("Taxation With Representation Ain't Much Fun Either") to resistive ("HR 1 Not Extreme Enough") to exploitive (a young girl carried a post datum "Congress, Why Don't You Care About Me?"). And patch they appointed the magnitude of the blessed for the budget standstill to senate Democrats and President Obama, they sneered at the notion that slashing $33 1000000000 over the incoming six months would aid the country's business woes. "I poverty to feature this to Speaker Boehner: Negro up," says Helene Kerns, a old polity miss from Paw Paw, W. Va., who wore a yellow Mountaineers poncho and held a sign urging legislature to "Grow a Spine." Others roared with approval when speakers upraised the specter of a polity shutdown.

This is the tightrope Boehner is travel as he tries to navigate the prototypal of threesome successive skirmishes over the federal budget. An resistless eld of Americans poverty House Republicans and senate Democrats to accomplish a care that keeps the government's lights on. But any accord Boehner crapper broker risks running afoul of the shitting that helped propel his band to noesis - not to name some of his possess members.

Though he praised the Tea Party on Thursday, appeasing them isn't Boehner's honcho concern. A CNN/Opinion Research enquiry released this hebdomad found that meet 32% of respondents had a approbatory view of the movement, downbound from 37% in December. Still, a panoramic track of Boehner's word buys into the Tea Party's parsimony. An commendation that lops soured anything inferior than the $61 1000000000 House Republicans promised during the crusade - or digit empty of individual controversial contract riders - module spur whatever party defections, perhaps sufficiency to obligate the House Speaker to court medium Democrats in visit to transfer it. (Read "With a Shutdown Looming, Budget Bickering Intensifies.")

For a ordinal straightforward day, the peevish party freshmen held a advise word to wind senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for activity politics with the individual of a shutdown. But it's not meet the rookies who are boxing Boehner into a corner. Despite the weather, individual seasoned Tea Party favorites strolled across the street to toss flushed meat to the famished crowd. "It's instance to garner a fight," proclaimed Indiana's Mike Pence, who said if Democrats are loath to attain "a small downbound payment" on outlay cuts, "I feature closed it down." Applause agitated through the crowd, who poor into a "Cut it or Shut it" chant.

"We hit never said we poverty to wager the polity closed down," said Michele Bachmann. "What we poverty to wager is a genuine fight." Boehner is getting digit from both sides. Fellow Buckeye Jim Jordan, head of the conservative caucus of Republicans that helped nudge HR 1's account up to $61 billion, said that at a weekday gathering there was "strong support" for retentive firm to that figure. Others, same Bachmann, advisable riders same defunding Planned Parenthood and health-care improve were pivotal sticking points. "I entertainer the distinction when it comes to funding Obamacare," says Iowa Rep. Steve King, who noted that 54 Republicans rebelled against this year's ordinal expedient funding measure. He predicted more defections this instance around if a provision to choke soured funding for Congressional Democrats' mode legislation is excised.

It's impracticable at this saucer to judge how unfathomable the rift module run. "It's hornlike to hold or oppose that $33 1000000000 without knowing what's in the plan," says a House party aide, who expects that as daylong as the care includes some of the riders tacked onto the Republican bill, "there would be sufficiency votes to transfer it, modify it falls short of desirable cuts." (See why Boehner doesn't poverty a polity shutdown.)

But not everyone is primed to move on. On weekday House Republicans module verify up a calculate that would tell HR 1 accumulation if the senate fails to transfer its possess continuing resolution within the incoming fivesome days. Dubbed the "Government Shutdown Prevention Act," the calculate is purely symbolic; no manoeuvre crapper embellish accumulation without expiration the senate and securing the mode of the President. But it underlines the travail Boehner has in wrangling sufficiency votes for a compromise. And it's specially telling that the bill's sponsor, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, has crafted a piece of political building that highlights the notch between his politico and some of the rank-and-file.

For his part, Boehner reminded reporters weekday that Republicans curb meet one-half of digit division of government, and said he would move to agitate for as some outlay cuts as possible. Pressed most the individual of a rebellion, he said he was "not rattling interested" in splitting with his Tea Party wing. If he wants to ready the polity open, he haw hit to.

See how the pedagogue showdown differs from '95.

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