Government shutdown stalemate continues as Congress fails to negotiate

Updated at 3:55 p.m. ET

President Obama on Thursday turned up the pressure on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to pass a no-strings-attached government spending bill, even as lawmakers appeared no closer to ending the government shutdown.

"If the Speaker of the House John Boehner simply let the bill get on the floor... the shutdown would end today," Mr. Obama said while visiting a construction business in Rockville, Md. "The only thing that is keeping the government shut down, the only thing preventing people from going back to work, and basic research from starting back up... is that Speaker John Boehner won't even let the bill get a yes-or-no vote because he doesn't want to anger he extremists in his party."

Republican leaders, meanwhile, maintained that the onus was on President Obama and congressional Democrats. In a memo to House Republicans, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said that Mr. Obama is "is refusing to actively engage to end the current impasse."

• Poll: Americans not happy about shutdown; more blame GOP
• Why is it so difficult to end the government shutdown?

Cantor blasted Democrats for rejecting the House strategy to pass piecemeal spending bills, specifically for funding for national parks, the National Guard, veterans benefits, and certain National Institutes of Health clinical trials. The House GOP has also advocated allowing the District of Columbia to expend its local funds. He said that over the next few days, the House would continue to push these measures and will consider other similar pieces of legislation to reopen parts of the federal government.

"One can only speculate as to why President Obama and Congressional Democrats are not only refusing to negotiate but now refusing to support or provide the American people with relief from the government shutdown," Cantor said in his memo. "But I firmly believe their position is untenable. It is at odds with how even past Democratic Presidents have handled similar situations."

Earlier in the day, appearing with NIH doctors Cantor reiterated the GOP position that "there should not be any special treatment" under the Affordable Care Act, which is why they're insisting on amending it in the spending legislation currently up for debate.

Mr. Obama and congressional leaders met Wednesday evening for the first time since the government shutdown began Tuesday but emerged from the meeting no closer to a negotiation than they had been all week.

Mr. Obama called the four leaders in for a meeting after the second day of the government shutdown saw both sides largely engaging in posturing without any real discussion. The meeting at the White House, which lasted about 70 minutes, appeared to follow that trend.

"The President made clear to the Leaders that he is not going to negotiate over the need for Congress to act to reopen the government or to raise the debt limit to pay the bills Congress has already incurred," the White House said in a written statement after the meeting, reiterating the position Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats have held all along. "The President remains hopeful that common sense will prevail, and that Congress will not only do its job to reopen the government, but also act to pay the bills it has racked up and spare the nation from a devastating default."

Boehner called the meeting "a polite conversation" but is sticking to the House's condition that the Senate designate lawmakers to negotiate on the continuing resolution. "All we're asking for is a discussion and fairness for the American people under Obamacare - which I would hope the President, and my Democratic colleagues in the Senate would listen to the American people and sit down and have a serious discussion about resolving these issues," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for his part, is standing by the Democratic position: that they will negotiate on a long-term budget, but only after the House passes a so-called "clean" short-term spending bill with no amendments that chip away at Obamacare.

"We have a debt ceiling staring us in the face! And he wants to talk about a short-term CR?" Reid said. "I thought that they were concerned about the long-term fiscal affairs of this country. And we said we are too. Let's talk about it."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined Reid in speaking to reporters and called on Boehner to pledge not to negotiate over the need to raise the debt ceiling on Oct. 17 - which Republicans are eyeing as a bargaining chip to make spending cuts and make changes to the healthcare law. "The United States of America will always honor the full faith and credit of our country. And no person should be held hostage to that for a social or other agenda. So let's just take that off the table because it's really dangerous," Pelosi said.

According to a report from the New York Times, Boehner has told members of his caucus that he will not let the nation default on its debt and will be willing to put a bill on the House floor to raise the debt ceiling, even if it doesn't have the support of a majority of House Republicans.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for the speaker, told CBS News, "Speaker Boehner has always said that the United States will not default on its debt, but if we're going to raise the debt limit, we need to deal with the drivers of our debt and deficits. That's why we need a bill with cuts and reforms to get our economy moving again."

White House spokesman Jay Carney, meanwhile, told reporters Thursday that the administration is still worried "that Republicans in the House will employ the same unfortunate tactics when it comes to their fundamental responsibility to raise the debt ceiling... as they have employed in shutting down the government."

The shutdown has been met with high levels of disapproval, and Republicans have shouldered more of the blame. Seventy-two percent of Americans disapprove of shutting down the government over differences in the Affordable Care Act, according to a new CBS News poll conducted from Oct. 1 to 2. Republican respondents overall were split on whether they approved of the shutdown, with approval rising to 57 percent among tea party supporters.

Of the people surveyed, 44 percent place more blame on Democrats and 35 percent on Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Congress. While Republicans get more heat, they are faring better than the Republican Congress did during the 1995-1996 shutdown when 51 percent of Americans blamed the Republicans in Congress compared to only 28 percent who blamed President Clinton.

Not all lawmakers are waiting for their leaders to bring them together. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a "Dear Letter" colleague suggesting a get together. In a Fox News interview with Greta van Susteren Wednesday night he said they would have coffee on the steps of the Capitol at 11 a.m.

"I think, really, people think this is one party or the other. My understanding is the American people are frustrated with both parties not talking. And I think there's some symbolism to it. But I think we could also have coffee and talk about, what is the final position that both sides would accept in order to get there?" he said.

CBSNews.com's Stephanie Condon contributed to this report.