Charles Dharapak/AP
The White House is not blinking so fast. President Obama said in a statement Saturday that he would veto the House’s bill that would delay funding for Obamacare, with press secretary Jay Carney adding that the House GOP is “reckless and irresponsible.” “Any member of the Republican Party who votes for this bill is voting for a shutdown,” Carney said. Democrats already readied their defenses against a shutdown: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted the House bill as “pointless” and House Democratic campaign chief Steve Israel said the GOP is “committing political suicide.” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel slammed Republican lawmakers as “astoundingly reckless”—especially since half of the Pentagon’s nearly 800,000 civilian workers could be placed on leave without pay. Republicans have already approved a separate bill to fund the military.