The position in the GOP House on how to handle the continuing resolution to fund the government next month is still evolving, but it looks like Speaker Boehner is ready to accede to many of the demands of his caucus and risk a shutdown of government.

Boehner has been making noises in recent weeks that no shutdown would occur. In a conference call yesterday with the rank and file, he seemed to edge away from that position.

The Hill:

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told House Republicans on Thursday that he wants to push through a temporary spending measure that incorporates automatic cuts, upping the ante for a September budget showdown.

Boehner's comments, delivered in a conference call with the rank and file, show that Republicans aren't backing down from a face-off that could potentially lead to a government shutdown, even after GOP divisions over spending flared up shortly before the August recess.

But the call also underscored that the Republican conference has yet to make any decisions about whether to link their push to undercut President Obama's healthcare law with a continuing resolution to keep the government funded past September.

Boehner focused squarely on Obama during Thursday's call, according to someone listening, accusing the president of being so desperate to get rid of sequestration that he would go along with a government shutdown if Republicans didn't get rid of it.

"The president's threat to shut down the government if we implement his sequester is not a defensible position," Boehner said. "The American people won't stand for it, and we're not going to be swayed by it." 

"Our message will remain clear: until the president agrees to better cuts and reforms that help grow the economy and put us on path to a balanced budget, his sequester - the sequester he himself proposed, insisted on, and signed into law - stays in place," the Speaker added.

 

At the same time, none of the GOP leaders on the call - including Boehner - addressed the efforts by conservatives in both chambers to defund the healthcare overhaul in the spending bill. A House GOP aide said Thursday that no final decisions have been made on that front.

"The president has already signed seven bills delaying or repealing parts of his healthcare law," Boehner said on the call. "We're going to keep the pressure on the president and Senate to act on the delay bills that passed the House in July with significant bipartisan support."

GOP senators like Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) are prominent advocates for linking the two, while 80 House conservatives prodded Boehner to make sure that any spending bill contains no money for implementing ObamaCare.

The "temporary" spending measure would fund the government for about 2 months - or until the debt limit would be reached. There are some Republicans who want to make their last stand on Obamacare using the debt ceiling as leverage to defund the program. Obama has already said he is not going to negotiate with Republicans on a new debt limit so the GOP wants to test the president's resolve on that issue.

The president doesn't believe that Republicans will push the nation into default. He obviously hasn't been listening to many of them. The GOP sees this debate as their best chance to get concessions on a wide variety of issues, including entitlement reforms, the pipeline, and of course, Obamacare, while keeping the sequester in place.

It's an ambitious agenda. The ultimate question is; can the GOP unite behind it and stick with it?