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SALT LAKE CITY — A government shutdown looms Monday as congressional Republicans, including Utah's three GOP representatives, continue to push to delay Obamacare.
"I think the odds are pretty strong that it's going happen, at least for three or five days," Sen. Orrin Hatch said.
"I haven't heard any action the Senate intends to take so far," he said on KSL Newsradio's "Doug Wright Show." "We still have time left, but President Obama and Harry Reid seem intent on shutting down the government and blaming Republicans."
Hatch said he doesn't think the Senate is serious about voting on the funding resolution at all, which would lead to the government shutdown at midnight.
"It's frustrating because the United States Senate needs to act," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz. "I don't understand, given the peril of midnight, how they're just going to saunter in later today."
It's frustrating because the United States Senate needs to act. I don't understand, given the peril of midnight, how they're just going to saunter in later today.
–Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah
The House late Saturday passed two amendments to legislation that will keep the government running for the next three months. One repeals the medical device tax, while the other delays the Affordable Care Act for a year.
"I think the Republicans in the House are listening to the American people," Hatch said. "They're acting responsibly."
The Senate isn't scheduled to convene until 2 p.m. EST, and is expected to reject the House bill.
"(Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid said he's not going to accept anything that the House does," Hatch said.
Hatch said Reid and Obama refuse to negotiate delaying Obamacare or repealing the medical devices tax.
Related:
What's changing, what's not, in a shutdown
Campers in national parks are to pull up stakes and leave, some veterans waiting to have disability benefits approved will have to cool their heels even longer, many routine food inspections will be suspended and panda-cams will go dark at the shuttered National Zoo. Those are among the immediate effects if parts of the government shut Tuesday because of the budget impasse in Congress."This is the worse I've ever seen it in the Congress," he said.
Chaffetz said Senate Democrats intend to "jam" the House by not voting on a bill until late Monday, giving the House little time to react.
Rep. Chris Stewart called delaying Obamacare a reasonable compromise, but the Senate isn't going for it.
"If they were interested in doing that, they would be in session right now and they're not," he said. "I think that the Democratic Senate has wanted a shutdown for a long time."
