CNN "The Situation Room" - Shutdown Negotiations

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: The government shutdown now entering its third week, and we're only just 54 hours away from the U.S. hitting its debt ceiling, possibly, possibly defaulting on its financial obligations at home and around the world.

The Senate is said to be close to a deal that would reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, averting what so many people say would be a fiscal catastrophe.

Let's talk about this and more with Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of California. He's chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, thanks, Wolf.

And I look forward to the government reopening and getting back to really dealing with entitlements and with waste in government.

BLITZER: Well, all of us do, indeed.

Let's talk a little bit about some of these issues. We asked some of our Twitter followers to send some suggested questions. I will one up on the screen right now. "Will House Republicans pass a deal that does not have changes to Obamacare?"

What do you think?

ISSA: I think House Republicans need to vote for something that deals with entitlement, deals with, if you will, the excesses that need to be reined in.

That's what sequestration was about, even though it was a bad solution. So I think as long as we're dealing with entitlements, Obamacare being an entitlement, but there's a lot of other entitlements and a lot of waste in government that we keep showing, but not dealing with.

BLITZER: Well, let's talk about what is on the table apparently in the Senate. And if it were to pass the Senate, would you support it? You fund the government through January 15. You have House/Senate Budget Committee conferees meet to try to deal with some of these long-term budget issues by December 13. You raise the nation's ceiling until February 15.

If that's the deal, are you ready to go along with it?

ISSA: Well, Wolf, as you know, you have to read the whole deal.

We have a 124-page law called Obamacare as a result of people not reading some of the details. But the basic idea of creating a breathing room, a cooling-off period, and going into negotiation not on the budget number, but on really dealing with the entitlement and other excesses, so we can intelligently cut waste and excess in government, absolutely.

And I think you are going to find overwhelming support if that deal is defined in a way in which we know it will happen.

BLITZER: Well, that's pretty encouraging. If the Senate were to pass it and if the House were to pass it, then the president would sign it, and then, at least, as you point out, there would be some breathing room.

But here's what the president today. And I'm going to play this clip. The president, he was a little gloomy as far as what would happen if you don't pass this deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Not only is it untenable for us to continue this shutdown. This week if we don't start making some real progress both in the House and the Senate, and if Republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Does he have the right point over there?

ISSA: Well, you know, he misses points all the time.

The House passed a bill to open up the District of Columbia to use their own money, and the president issued a vetoed threat, saying he wouldn't do it. Both sides can be unreasonable at times. Obviously, the president has to meet the Congress halfway.

And where we can agree and should agree, like letting the District of Columbia spend their own money, some of which, by the way, is picking up trash on federal property as you and I speak, then the president needs to show a good faith that he's willing to do. So, hopefully the president is not playing games with the District and not playing games with Republicans intending on holding him to his promise that we are going to make real entitlement reform, and drive down the budget -- or the deficit by something other than huge tax increases.

BLITZER: Everybody seems to be suffering politically as a result of this mess here in Washington, but Republicans a little bit more.

This new ABC/"Washington Post" poll has disapproval numbers as far as handling of the budget negotiations, 74 percent disapprove of Republicans in Congress, 61 percent disapprove of Democrats in Congress, 53 percent disapprove of President Obama's handling of these budget negotiations

But the Republicans, as you see here, are suffering more than the Democrats or the president. What do you think about that?

ISSA: Well, Wolf, when the majority of Americans disapprove of the House, the Senate, Republicans, Democrats and the president, that says that we're not doing the right thing in Washington. I don't think you nuance the difference between 60, 50 and 50 -- 70, 60 and 50-some percent negative.

I think what you say is, look, the president should be an adult at the table. He has huge power, and he has the power, as one person, to offer counterproposals, which he hasn't done. The Senate with Harry Reid repeatedly essentially doing nothing, not allowing the negotiation process to go forward, wrong.

And we in the House, as Republicans, we have to deal with the fact that we have a divided caucus of Republicans. Some want much more than what's being talked about. Some, of course, would vote for less than what was talked about. But I think when you look at the internal problems that I deal with in my conference, by definition it's small in comparison to a president who won't even allow the things we agree on to go forward, who closes the World War II memorials, who closes, by the way, parks that are not even federal -- not one federal penny is being spent. Those are the kinds of things where I think the president is driving down his numbers, but I'm not saying for a moment that Republicans in the House don't deserve some blame. We should have been better in handling this.

BLITZER: Well, if there wouldn't have been a government shutdown, all those things would have been open, but that's another subject that -- we can discuss that down the road. Unfortunately, we're out of the time.

Hey, Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

ISSA: Thank you, Wolf.

And, remember, under sequestration, they closed a lot of things that should have been open too.

BLITZER: That's another matter as well, which we can discuss on another occasion.

ISSA: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Darrell Issa, thank you very much.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching.

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