McConnell Wants to Deal Directly with White House

As President Obama and top congressional leaders “prepare to launch negotiations on a two-year budget deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is maneuvering to cut key Democrats out of the talks,” Politico reports.

“The ambitious budget goal, outlined by McConnell on Tuesday, could help ease the threat of repeated government shutdowns until after the 2016 elections. But drama is already unfolding behind the scenes with McConnell’s private suggestion that the discussions be limited to just him, President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), according to Democratic sources — a proposal that the president and outgoing speaker have rejected.”

Wall Street Journal: “The talks are fresh and unlikely to be wrapped up before Mr. Boehner leaves office on Oct. 30. It is unclear whether his successor, likely Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), would be interested in participating in them.”