From NBC's Mike Viqueira, Luke Russert and Carrie Dann
This morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that a House-proposed one-week extension of government funding -- which contains long-term funding for the Defense Department, deep cuts to other spending measures, and a provision preventing the use of D.C. city taxes for abortion services -- is "a nonstarter" in the Senate.

The White House just confirmed that it's a nonstarter at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well.

In a "Statement of Administration Policy," the White House said that it will veto the one-week measure if it passes in Congress, saying that the stopgap measure is "a distraction" from a long-term solution to the budget impasse.

"This bill is a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise for funding the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011 and avert a disruptive Federal Government shutdown that would put the Nation's economic recovery in jeopardy," the statement reads.

*** UPDATE: *** As expected, the House passed the one-week measure at about 2:30 pm ET. The vote was 247-181.

The statement noted that the administration would accept a "clean" short-term measure (one that does not change the status quo of the past short-term funding bill) while negotiations continue, but, if presented with the GOP-led one-week measure, "the President will veto it."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor responded to the veto threat in a statement, highlighting that, unless a Pentagon funding bill is passed before Friday, paychecks to members of the armed services would be delayed.

"To be clear, if the President vetoes this bill and shuts the government down, our men and women in uniform serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world will not be paid," Cantor said. "Our troops must be paid, our country is broke, and we are committed to fixing that. I urge the President revisit his decision and work with us."

From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
Donald Trump has never won elective office -- for any position.

Yet, from time to time, he likes to fashion himself as someone who could be president. And in the most recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump, in large part because of his name recognition, has rocketed to second place among Republicans and the top choice among Tea Party activists.

We’ve seen this movie before.

Trump has flirted with presidential bids twice previously -- in 1987 and 1999. Both times he didn’t actually up and run, but what did go up was the buzz surrounding him and sales of whatever The Donald was pushing at the time.

A cover profile of him from the now-defunct George magazine in its February-March 2000 issue, when he was toying with a presidential bid in the 2000 cycle, is instructive.

“Nonetheless once every decade or so Trump begins reminding folks that millions upon millions of them would like nothing better than to have him as their president, and up rockets his public image—and his income,” wrote Christopher Byron, the story’s author. “Up go the sales of whatever ghosted autobiography he happens to have in stores at the moment, up go the rental values of his apartments, in come more day-tripping gamblers lured to his Atlantic City casinos—in short, up goes the market price of the most valuable, and promotable, possession Trump has: his name.

“Then, like Kenny Rogers character who ‘knows when to hold ’em, and knows when to fold ’em,’ he simply places his cards facedown on the table, sweeps his winnings into his lap, and exits the quadrennial poker game without ever showing his hand—namely, the obligatory audited personal financial statement, required of serious candidates, that would reveal how modestly wealthy, relatively speaking, he really is.”

In 1987, per George:

“[W]hen Trump’s book leaped onto the best-seller list for the next 48 weeks, Trump’s campaign for the presidency faded away until nothing remained but the smile of a Cheshire cat.”

And Trump in the profile all but admitted it was about the money.

“I’m the only one who makes money when he runs,” Trump said. “I got a fortune for the book I came out with. Also, I’m the highest-paid speaker out there. I’m making 12 speeches a year at $100,000 each.”

Trump said on NBC’s Today show this morning that he would welcome filing the required financial disclosure. But the George profile highlights the smoke and mirrors of Trump’s wealth. Of his ostentatious home in Palm Beach, FL, once owned by cereal magnate Marjorie Merriweather Post:

“[T]o save it from seizure by creditors as his business empire crumbled, he turned it into a kind of real-life Love Boat for status-hungry businessmen you’ve never heard of. Trump sells memberships to the place for $100,000 a pop, which is not a bad way to pay the bills.”

And:

“His ownership of the Plaza Hotel was stripped from him, he lost his mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, and he even wound up having to turn his treasured Mar-a-Lago [the Palm Beach home] into a spa open to the paying public.”

How would this square in Iowa?
It’s well known that Newt Gingrich’s biggest hurdle with social conservatives is his multiple marriages. But Trump, not only has had his share of marriages, few of his competitors’ exes were as scantily clad. For example, in the George piece, there was “the arrival, midway through the meeting, of a half-naked fashion model wrapped in a towel about the size of a dinner napkin, who approaches the two of us and joins the discussion.”

That woman was then-Melania Knauss, whom “Trump paraded around as his potential first lady.” They broke up, per the story, but she is now Trump's wife. He touted her as a “supermodel,” when “in reality,” she was “represented by a modeling agency owned by Trump.” Knauss’ rate doubled, and “20 percent of her modeling fees go to Trump, who also collects another 20 percent from agencies and publishing companies that hire her.” He “pocked 30 percent” of his second wife, Marla Maples’, brief stint as a Broadway actress.

He’s certainly not likely to win over women, not just with his prior marriages or his management of their modeling and acting careers, but then there's this quote in George about a woman who appeared in his house en route to the spa: “That bitch had some nerve, the way she treated Ron Perelman.”

(The woman was Patricia Duff, described by New York magazine as a political activist, who was Perelman’s third wife. Their marriage dissolved in a messy divorce.)

If that’s not enough, of course, Trump’s most well known for his involvement as a casino owner -- “the source of most of the cash and calamity in his life over the past 20 years."

Or his owning “a 282-foot yacht that had previously belonged to Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.”

Or his general self-absorption, penchant for exaggeration, and self-aggrandizement, including a wall of magazine cover devoted to himself in his New York office, and even an oil painting of himself that sits in the Palm Beach home, which George described this way:

“[T]he Trumpster is tricked out in a white tennis sweater, with his mop of sandy hair tousled as if he’d just come in from a love game, set, match with Rudy Valle.”

Or his “various properties” that “slid into bankruptcy, and he was forced to sell his yacht as well as his airline….” He defended the bankruptcies on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown: “I never went bankrupt,” Trump said, trying to draw a distinction between personal bankruptcy and putting a company into Chapter 11. “Many of the biggest people in this country, many times have filed Chapter 11s on various companies in order to reduce debts.” He added, “I’ve done an unbelievable job” and used the laws of the country to help his companies.

The George story points out:

“[T]he siren song of the slot machines and craps tables was also the reason for his collapse into a prepackaged bankruptcy reorganization—from which he emerged as only a minority owner in a business he once owned outright. The fiasco in Atlantic City also led to the bank-directed reorganization of his real estate holdings, reducing him to little more than a manager of buildings he once owned.”

The line of using the laws is an old one, according to the George story, which pointed out his private plane was “registered in the offshore tax-haven domicile of Bermuda.” Trump responded: “I play by the rules, and the rules say I can keep a plane in Bermuda, so I do.”

Trump says his wealth is really wrapped up in real estate. But a Trump executive, quoted in the George story, via the book “Lost Tycoon,” said:

“It was all a shell game. We never had any unencumbered cash. We were always creating new partnerships and corporate entities to shift the money around. We were always robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Case in point, in order to make it easier to borrow money, George wrote:

“Trump had his organization prepare a bogus net worth statement that pegged his net worth to $3.7 billion by wildly inflating the value of his assets, and then circulated it to the press. The ploy helped convince Fortune to proclaim him an authentic billionaire that autumn, and that in turn helped him secure the financing to buy the Eastern Airlines Shuttle and, thereafter, the Taj Mahal.”

For the record, Forbes, George wrote, said his net worth was likely $1.6 billion when the profile was written, but “much of his wealth s not from his own wheeling and dealing, but simply represents the Queens, New York, apartment buildings he inherited from his father, Fred.”

The conventional wisdom is that Trump would benefit financially from yet another flirtation with running for president. But as public-relations guru Jack O’Dwyer warned in the George piece:

“Publicity is like a football. You never know which way it’s going to bounce next. One false move and he could have the whole country laughing at him.”

Considering Trump’s doubling down -- to use a casino term -- on birtherism, it’s a very real possibility this time around that the third time won’t be the charm.

After his failed 2006 campaign for re-election, it would be an understatement to say that former Sen. George Allen (R) has a perception problem on the issue of race.

And now Allen -- who's back running for his old Senate seat -- has once again stepped on the issue of race.

Craig Melvin, an African-American reporter-anchor for NBC's Washington, DC affiliate, posted this message on Twitter:

For the 2nd time in 5 months, fmr. gov. and sen candidate George Allen asks me,”what position did you play?” I did not a play a sport.”

Allen later apologized:

sorry if I offended, ask people a lot if they played sports Grew up in football family found sports banter good way to connect

*** UPDATE *** Allen adviser Dan Allen (no relation) sends along this Tweet from a local NBC Richmond affiliate anchor:

@ryanobles I think it's worth pointing out that @GeorgeAllenva often asks me what position I played in sports as well.

As Democrats in the Senate argue that "ideology" is the only thing standing in the way of a deal to avert a government shutdown, House Republicans are countering that’s simply not true.

At a Thursday morning press conference, House Speaker John Boehner disputed Senate Majority Leader Harry’s Reid’s claim that the two sides have essentially agreed on a base number for spending cuts and are now squabbling only over unrelated policy provisions.

 “In fact, there is no agreement on a number,” Boehner said. “I think we were closer to a number last night than we were this morning.”

Asked if Republicans were focusing particularly on an abortion-related policy "rider" as an area closed to compromise, the speaker said that issues to related abortion funding are far from the only sticking point in the ongoing negotiations.

“There’s far more than one provision that’s holding up any agreement, he said. “I can tell you that.”

Reid told NBC News on Wednesday that Republicans have presented 65 policy riders.

Today, House leaders will introduce a one-week continuing resolution that would fund the Pentagon through the end of the year and cut $12 billion in government spending.

Boehner referred to that measure today as a “a troop funding bill” – a characterization that House Democrats call inauthentic – and said that money for defense spending is crucial due the United States’ engagement in “a third war.”  (If there is a government shutdown,  paychecks to troops – including those in combat zones -  would be delayed.)

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said the Defense Department funding provision of the Republican-backed bill is “a very cynical ploy” to push through a "radical social agenda."

“The American people will see right through that,” he said.

Boehner said Thursday that negotiators are still working toward a solution to avert a  funding gap, emphasizing that a shutdown has never been a goal of Republican leaders.

“All of us in the room want this to be over,” he said. “We each have policy provisions we feel strongly about. We have spending that we feel strongly about.”

“We’re going to try to continue to be responsible and work our way through this in a way that keeps the government open and provides real spending cuts that will help get our economy moving again.” 

NBC's Shawna Thomas, Kelly O'Donnell, and Luke Russert contributed reporting.

From msnbc.com's Carrie Dann:
Back in February, we reported that a government shutdown could end up costing the government more than it saves. Here’s an updated version of that post in light of a looming shutdown.

The prolonged haggling over the budget could end up having a very expensive consequence:  A federal shutdown costs the government money.

A lot of it.

The Office of Management and Budget estimated early in 1996 that the first of two government shutdowns – for six days in November 1995 – cost taxpayers an estimated $100 million per day. The final price tag for that closing and the record three-week shutdown later that year - including back pay to workers who did not go to work over that time: Over $1.25 billion.

Other shutdowns have been costly too. According to the Government Accountability Office, a funding gap of just three days in 1991 rang up a $607 million bill, including $363 million in lost revenue and fees.

If Congress fails to reach an agreement on a stopgap spending measure before the current funding law expires on April 8, the federal government could be headed for the 17th closure since 1977.

The costs of shutdown
The executive branch of the federal government currently employs just over two million civilians – about the same number as it did in the mid-1990s – and requires hundreds of millions of dollars per day to function.
But why does it cost so much to keep the lights off?

First of all, pay.

The OMB requires federal agencies to maintain a contingency plan in case of  a “funding hiatus” – including information about how many employee are essential for “military, law enforcement, or direct provision of health care activities” or otherwise “to protect life and property.” That would include air traffic controllers, national security professionals, key medical workers, and law enforcers, among others. But, in the event of a shutdown, “non-essential” employees would be forced to stay home until the impasse gets resolved.

In the 1990s, the 800,000 employees who were furloughed in November and the 260,000 who sat idle in December received a total of about $1 billion in back pay even though they could not report to work, according to a report by the OMB.

(That was a relief to many employees, who were uncertain for weeks about whether or not they would ultimately be paid. Robert Tobias, who served as the president of the National Treasury Employees Union during the shutdown and now teaches at American University, said that his organization and other federal employee groups dispersed tens of thousands of dollars in loans to workers who were unable to pay their bills without receiving their paychecks on time.)

There’s also the issue of uncollected fines, fees, and other revenues.

The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, failed to collect $63 million in fines because of cancelled facility inspections during the November shutdown in 1995. Uncollected airline taxes and fees by users of government facilities like national parks also added up.

There are also major potential trickle-down effects for the nation’s economy. Shortly after the three-week shutdown in 1995, the Interior Department concluded that the shuttering of national parks had cost related businesses and nearby local governments almost $300 million. A study conducted by the by National Parks and Conservation Association found that – even a year after the budget standoff – small businesses were still suffering from a lingering decline in tourism, especially by foreign visitors.

Contractors also suffered during the mid-1990s shutdowns. According to a survey conducted at the time by Signet Banking Corp., a third of federal contractors furloughed some of their own employees in January 1996. Many of those workers never received checks from their private-sector employers to make up for time lost. 

From NBC's Pete Williams
Federal agencies are going through the agony of deciding who's essential and who isn't. Those considered non-essential are discovering that no matter how loyal or patriotic they may be, it will be a violation of federal law for them to come to work if there's a shutdown.

Federal law bars the government from spending money for expenses that haven't been approved. That means if a shutdown leaves a government agency without money, employees cannot come to work and thereby create an obligation for the government to pay them.

There's an exception to the law, however, for the "voluntary services" of federal employees who are needed to handle "emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property." This language has tended to be interpreted very broadly -- to cover well over half of all federal employees, who will still be expected to come to work. Once past shutdowns have ended, Congress has paid the essential employees who continued working.

So it boils down to this: In a shutdown, federal employees cannot volunteer to come to work, unless their jobs are considered essential. And if they are essential, their "volunteering" is mandatory.

One other note: While it will be illegal for non-essential personnel to come to work during a shutdown, no one has ever been prosecuted for doing it. However, anyone who tries it -- to demonstrate how essential they think they are -- would be subject to discipline and could even be fired.

After an all-night negotiating session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that he is “not nearly as optimistic” as he was last night about avoiding a government shutdown before a Friday deadline, saying of a federal funding gap: “it looks like it’s headed in that direction.”

The Democratic leader said that the two sides have essentially agreed on the amount of money set to be cut from the long-term budget but that Republicans have drawn a line in the sand over “ideology”  – including policy issues dealing with funding for Planned Parenthood and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Our differences are no longer over the savings we get on government spending, Reid said. “The only thing holding up an agreement is ideology.”

Reid’s comments came as the White House announced another meeting with congressional leaders scheduled for 1 pm ET. The government will shut down if an agreement is not reached by midnight on Friday.

House Republicans are lobbying for some “policy riders” – attachments to the budget bill – including ones that would defund the president’s health care plan, cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and target EPA greenhouse gas rules.  

Those riders, particularly those relating to abortion, have no place in a budget bill, an exasperated Reid argued.

“It’s not realistic to shut down the government on a debate dealing with abortion,” the Nevada lawmaker said. “It’s not realistic and it’s not fair to the American people.”

Reid also announced that the Senate cannot pass a one-week stopgap bill – including very deep cuts but continued funding for the Pentagon - that would delay a shutdown.

The House today will vote on that bill, which would fund the Department of Defense through the rest of the year, cut $12 billion in spending and prevent the District of Columbia from using city taxes for funding abortion for low income women.

On the Senate floor today, Reid called that one-week measure “a non-starter.”

But Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell urged Democrats to agree to the proposal, saying that the stopgap measure is "well within the bounds of what their own leadership has defined as acceptable."

The alternative, McConnell said, is a shut down.  

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Shawna Thomas contributed to this report.

Obama, Reid, and Boehner cite progress after last night’s White House meeting, but is enough?... NBC/WSJ poll shows the box Boehner’s in… The public’s looking for more stability, not less… Poll also finds Obama increasingly in the ideological middle… While Trump is the shiny metal object in the NBC/WSJ GOP trial heat, don’t lose sight of Bachmann… Barbour’s off to a rough poll start…  Time to write off Palin for 2012?… Obama meets with Colombia’s president this afternoon, and the two speak with reporters at 4:20 pm ET.

AP

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speak to reporters after their meeting at the White House on Wednesday with President Obama regarding the budget and possible government shutdown.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Progress, but is it enough? The good news after last night’s Obama-Reid-Boehner meeting to resolve the budget stalemate: They were all on the same page saying there was progress; call it rhetorical agreement. The bad news: There still was no deal to avert a government shutdown. Said President Obama, “I thought the meetings were frank, they were constructive, and what they did was narrow the issues and clarify the issues that are still outstanding.” Added Reid, "We had a productive conversation and made good progress toward an agreement. I am hopeful that we will be able to announce a compromise agreement soon." And here was Boehner: “We do have some honest differences, but I do think we made some progress. But I want to reiterate, there's no agreement on a number and there's no agreement on the policy questions. But there's an intent on both sides to continue to work together to try to resolve this.” If there’s optimism that a deal gets done before Friday night’s deadline, it’s this: It feels like we’re in the saving-face period. Obama is saving face by holding multiple meetings at the White House, and Boehner is saving face by accusing the president of not leading. The primary sticking point is NOT money at this point; it's these so-called "riders," like the Planned Parenthood amendment.

*** Base politics: The latest NBC/WSJ poll shows why Boehner, for now, is in the tougher position as the deadline draws closer. A majority of Republicans (and an even LARGER majority of Tea Party supporters) do not want congressional Republican leaders to compromise. But a majority of independent voters do. Bottom line: Boehner is dealing with a primary buzz saw for some Republicans if he looks as if he compromised too much, even if it's at the price of a potential general election problem. That's the Boehner box, and it explains why he can't move too quickly on a deal. Of course, the pressure could end up on Democrats if the House passes their one-week C.R. with full defense funding and the Senate refuses to take that up.

*** Stability vs. instability: Our poll also is chock-full of data suggesting risks for both Democrats and Republicans if there is a government shutdown. Perhaps the biggest risk? The American public -- seeing three U.S. wars, almost 9% unemployment, and high gas prices -- doesn’t need more instability. Per the survey, just 28% believe the country is headed in the right direction; only 20% approve of Congress’ job; and just 33% think the economy will improve in the next 12 months. “The public is skittish and scared, and the last thing they’d like to add into the mix is a government shutdown,” said NBC/WSJ co-pollster Peter Hart (D). “If anything, they’re looking for more stability.”

*** Middle Man: On a week when Obama launched his re-election bid, the NBC/WSJ poll shows him a position with the public that would please Bill Daley, David Plouffe, and Jim Messina. For the second-straight time, a plurality of Americans (38%) view him as a moderate, versus 30% who see him as “very liberal” and 20% who see him as “somewhat liberal.” In addition, his job-approval rating -- which sits at 49% overall -- is above 50% with seniors, is also above 50% in every region except the South, and is a net-positive among independents. And his re-elect number among women 50+ is almost at 50%. There seems to be a pattern here: Obama is improving with independents, seniors, and women. But what might concern Daley/Plouffe/Messina: this Florida Quinnipiac poll, which shows 52% of registered voters in the state disapproving of the president’s job. 

*** The Bachmann avalanche? As far as our poll’s look at the 2012 Republican field, the headline here is the fact that Donald Trump is tied for second in our hypothetical GOP trial heat and he actually leads among Tea Party supporters. This, to us, suggests both the weakness and the fluidity of the GOP field. But don’t let the Trump shiny metal object distract you from what could be a more significant story: Michele Bachmann. In a smaller five-way trial heat (featuring Romney, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Barbour, and Bachmann), Romney leads with 40% of Republican primary voters, followed by Newt at 20%, and T-Paw at 12%. But among those describing themselves as VERY CONSERVATIVE, Bachmann leads that field. If Trump is an asteroid who could turn into a pebble, Bachmann could be a snow ball that could turn into an avalanche.

*** Should Barbour reconsider? Our NBC/WSJ poll once again suggests -- at least nationally -- that Haley Barbour isn’t gaining traction. In our nine-way GOP trial heat, he finishes dead-last (with 1%). He also finishes last in our five-way (with 3%). And then there’s this: In our poll’s list of 13 different candidate attributes, the most unpopular was being a former lobbyist (with just 16% saying they were enthusiastic or comfortable about that characteristic). That was worse than being a FOX commentator (31%), being a Tea Party leader (35%), being a person with multiple marriages (46%), and being a Mormon (49%). The most popular attributes were being a woman (85%), being African American (84%), being a governor (81%), and being Catholic (77%).

*** Time to write Palin’s 2012 political obituary? Finally, our poll showed a further deterioration in Sarah Palin’s political standing. In addition to trailing Romney, Trump, Huckabee, and Gingrich in our nine-way trial heat, Palin’s fav/unfav stands at 25%-53%, down from 28%-50% in Dec. 2010. What’s more, for the first time in our poll, her “very positive” number is in single digits. Of course, things can always change -- Hillary Clinton’s fav/unfav is now 56%-22% after being 37%-48% in March 2008 -- but there’s a reason why Palin is no longer in the 2012 conversation.

*** Obama’s day: Obama meets with Colombia’s President Santos in the Oval Office at 3:45 pm ET, and the two men will speak to reporters at 4:20 pm.

*** 2012 watch: Barbour speaks at 7:00 pm ET at the Florida state House in Tallahassee, FL… Santorum appears on a conservative talk show in Reno, NV, at 7:00 pm ET, and then speaks at a Washoe County GOP dinner in Reno at 10:00 pm ET.

Countdown to continuing resolution’s expiration: 2 days
Countdown to NY-26 special election: 47 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 127 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 215 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 305 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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Here’s our write-up of the latest NBC/WSJ poll: “As negotiators in Congress squabble over the size and scope of spending cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year, Democrats and Republicans outside the Beltway differ dramatically in how they want their leaders to handle the budget stalemate… In a contrast that illustrates why the standoff has pushed the federal government to the verge of a shutdown, the poll finds an overwhelming majority of Democrats wanting the leaders of their party in Congress to compromise, and a majority of Republicans wanting theirs to stand firm.”

The Wall Street Journal’s take: “Republican lawmakers are caught between the demands of their conservative base insisting they hold their ground on deep budget cuts and the wishes of political independents they will need in the 2012 election who are pressing for compromise.” 

The New York Times says the budget stalemate is a test for both President Obama and Speaker Boehner. “The outcome will help determine whether Mr. Boehner is leading his party or following the demands of the Tea Party movement. For Mr. Obama, it is the biggest test yet of whether he can reposition himself as a pragmatic leader who can recapture the political center and keep liberals sufficiently energized to help him win re-election.”

Here’s a breakdown of what could be affected if the government shuts down. Your taxes, however, would still be due on time (this year, that’s April 18.)

The Boston Globe’s editorial page: “The elephant in the room in the struggle to avoid a disastrous government shutdown is that there are, in fact, two elephants in the room: Republican congressional leaders, who are seeking meaningful concessions from President Obama, and the Republican Tea Party wing that is trying to use the budget to roll back government.” Its suggestion: Boehner “and other mainstream conservative” should cut a deal. “[I]t’s hard to see how a DC implosion would be a win for House Republicans. It’s clear that they’re the holdouts — the ones proudly refusing to bend — even though they are only one-third of the constitutional law-making process,” the paper writes.

And: [T]he Tea Party wing has instead chosen to chew up valuable time with assaults on tiny line items that offend their anti-government ideology — from birth control to PBS programs to AmeriCorps volunteering. Taken together, these items don’t amount to a single bean, let alone a hill of beans, in a budget of which 88 percent is devoted to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. It’s blatantly false advertising to suggest that discretionary items like Planned Parenthood have anything more than a token bearing on the deficit.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is circulating a letter indicating he will not take a salary if the government shuts down, something he’s calling a “No Budget, No Pay” pledge. “I will forego my federal salary until we reach an agreement,” he writes. “I will donate my salary to charity or return it to the Treasury until the government works again… The bottom line is this: I can’t imagine that the President, Vice President or any Member of Congress – Republican or Democrat – thinks they should get paid when the government has shut down.”

“Partisan divisions hardened yesterday as Republicans began pushing a $3.5 trillion 2012 federal budget through a House committee, with backers calling it a sobering correction for the nation’s spending binge and critics labeling it an assault on health programs for retirees and the poor,” AP reports.

“Senate Democrats yesterday defeated a Republican effort to ban the Environmental Protection Agency from controlling the gases blamed for global warming,” AP reports.

“President Obama and congressional leaders worked into the night yesterday to forge a last-minute consensus on budget cuts that would keep the government running through September and avert a threatened partial shutdown at midnight tomorrow,” The Boston Globe reports. “The president invited Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner to join him at the White House last night in yet another attempt to surmount contentious and politically fraught issues over just how deep the budget cuts should be. Emerging more than an hour later, Obama said the meeting helped to narrow the issues, but there was no deal yet.”

Here’s one deal that’s been reached: “After weeks of intense negotiations, the United States and Colombia have reached a deal on a free trade pact that the White House says is a vital part of President Obama’s economic agenda,” the AP reports.

The president meets with Colombia’s president today at the White House. The Hill says the president “broke with union supporters” in cutting the deal.

The New York Post puts President Obama and Al Sharpton on its cover: “My pal Al.”

AP

Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel for Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board discusses the recount process related to the State's too-close-to-call Supreme Court election with members of the media at the group's office in Madison on Wednesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A recount is all but certain in the race for state Supreme Court, which would pose a host of legal questions, raise the political stakes in efforts to recall state senators, ignite a new bout of political fundraising and further fuel Wisconsin's ongoing battle over union bargaining. On Wednesday, nearly 20 hours after the polls closed, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg claimed victory over Justice David Prosser after an unofficial tally showed her holding the thinnest of leads. According to an unofficial tally by The Associated Press, she was up 204 votes out of nearly 1.5 million cast - a margin of 1/100th of a percent."

The paper also details the recount rules: "Once official numbers are in, either candidate - but no one else - can request a recount once the votes officially have been canvassed. If the margin between the candidates is less than 0.5% the state charges nothing to conduct the recount. If the margin is between 0.5% and 2%, the candidate asking for the recount must pay $5 per ward."

By the way, Democrats are announcing today that they are delivering the required signatures to force a recall election against a second GOP state senator, Randy Hopper.

BACHMANN: Michele Bachmann will join South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at a Tea Party rally on April 18 in Columbia, SC, The Hill reports.

Bachmann will join Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum and Herman Cain at the Americans For Prosperity presidential summit in New Hampshire on April 29, New Hampshire Union-Leader’s DiStaso says.

BARBOUR: Per the AP, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will be in Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C., on Saturday, speaking at both cities’ Republican conventions.

GINGRICH: This time around, the possibility of a government shutdown “highlights an ongoing challenge for [Newt] Gingrich: To run as the battle-tested candidate of experience, he must embrace his legacy, warts and all,” the AP writes.

President Obama highlighted Gingrich’s bipartisan work with the Rev. Al Sharpton at a conference in New York for Sharpton’s National Action Network, The Hill recalls, which underscored his “history of giving his possible Republican opponents a kind of ‘kiss of death,’ praising them effusively with the intention of hurting their brand with conservative primary voters.”

HUNTSMAN: Politico: “Ahead of his anticipated run for president, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman is leaving his post in China with a sharp rebuke to Beijing on human rights.” More: “‘The United States will never stop supporting human rights because we believe in the fundamental struggle for human dignity and justice wherever it may occur,’ Huntsman told a prestigious audience gathered for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations's Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture in Shanghai on Wednesday, according to a transcript of his remarks.”

PAUL: Ron Paul told radio host Alex Jones that his participation in the May 5^th debate in Greenville, S.C. will not necessarily mean he’ll have made a decision on running for president by then, Politico reports.

PAWLENTY: In Iowa, “police charged a staffer for Republican Tim Pawlenty’s political action committee with public intoxication and trespassing early this morning after he banged on a stranger’s door and tried to enter what he thought was his home, records show. Ben Foster, 24, was actually about 10 miles from the home of a Republican state lawmaker who has been housing him – and scared the family enough that the father of the house got out his gun,” the Des Moines Register reports. The worker was suspended for two weeks by Pawlenty.

FLORIDA: The national Republican Party apparently wasn’t able to make Florida budge on its early primary date, according to the Tampa Tribune. “RNC chief of staff Jeff Larson visited Tallahassee Tuesday, meeting with staff members for state House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos. The meetings were private, but a spokeswoman for Cannon said the meetings were cordial, but no offers were made for how to settle the impasse.”

IOWA: A Neighborhood Research survey of Iowa Republicans found that Mike Huckabee enjoys an early advantage, with Mitt Romney following behind him, The Hill reports. “Twenty-one percent of likely caucus-goers said they would prefer Huckabee, followed by 14 percent for Romney, 9 percent for real estate mogul Donald Trump, 8 percent for Gingrich and 7 percent for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the poll found.”

MASSACHUSETTS: A Suffolk poll shows Sen. Scott Brown (R) in pretty good shape against potential competitors next fall. The best potential competitor is Joe Kennedy, who trails

NEVADA: “GOP presidential candidates will debate Oct. 18 in Las Vegas in a forum hosted by CNN and with the blessing of the Republican Party,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal says. “The debate was announced Wednesday by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference, which will meet in Las Vegas around the same time.”

“The wife of the mayor of Las Vegas easily topped 17 other candidates in a primary election to replace him as Sin City’s leader, but she didn’t get an outright win,” AP reports. Carolyn Goodman, wife of Oscar Goodman, captured 37 percent of the vote in the crowded field Tuesday, more than double the ballots of her nearest competitors in the race. But she needed more than 50 percent of the vote to become mayor.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Influential conservative Ovide Lamontagne’s Granite Oath PAC has lined up two more potential candidates for receptions at his Manchester home, the New Hampshire Union-Leader’s DiStaso writes. Herman Cain will visit on April 27 and Newt Gingrich on May 25. Former congressional candidate Jennifer Horn’s “We the People” non-profit has secured two major congressional conservative kingmakers, Sen. Jim DeMint (SC) and Rep. Steve King (IA), to attend the organization’s kickoff forum on April 30.

Bloomberg News and the Washington Post will host a Republican presidential primary debate set for Oct. 11^th, The Hill writes. The debate is the only one so far to focus singly on the economy. The Union Leader adds that billionaire and former Senate candidate Bill Binnie’s new television station, which he purchased last month and renamed WBIN-TV, will broadcast the event, to be held at Dartmouth College, locally.

From NBC's Jason Seher
Yesterday, msnbc.com's Carrie Dann chronicled the initial Democratic response to Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget proposal, including condemnations of the plan by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Steve Israel (D-NY). 

A slew of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took to the airwaves today to weigh-in on Ryan's newly unveiled budget proposal, titled, "Path to Prosperity." It's no surprise that Democrats have come out universally against the plan while House Republicans have all expressed support for the plan. Even though the messaging on both sides isn't necessarily following a strict script, Democratic and Republican talkers are using Ryan's plan as a convenient way to score political points. 

Continuing Pelosi's message that Ryan's plan offers "the same old Republican choices for the American people," Democratic lawmakers likened Ryan's proposal to the failed push by former President George W. Bush to privatize Social Security.

On CNBC's Squawk Box, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) accused Ryan of ignoring the recommendations made by the Federal Deficit Commission, saying his fiscal outline uses "exactly the same language [Republicans] used in 2001 and 2003." Hoyer continued: “This is exactly the same rhetoric, exactly the same kind of plan that was offered in 2001 and 2003, and it led to the deepest recession this country has seen; extraordinary loss of jobs and a tanking of the stock market. Very frankly, that's not a path we want to go down again."

Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Kent Conrad (D-ND) echoed Hoyer's sentiments. On NPR's Morning Edition, Conrad termed Ryan's Medicaid cuts, "draconian," criticizing the plan for its unwillingness to take a true comprehensive approach to curbing spending. "He only deals with a small part of domestic discretionary spending," Conrad said. "He only deals with a small part of domestic discretionary spending. He does deal with entitlements. He doesn't deal with revenue; he doesn't deal with defense. And as a result, he has a plan that is skewed."

First Read detailed yesterday the White House's response to Ryan's proposal. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the plan fails to "reflect American values of fairness and shared sacrifice." Hill Republicans have clung to Carney's statement, targeting Democrats for not having a serious alternative to Ryan's proposal. By focusing in on the lack of an "adult conversation" on America's fiscal future, House Republicans have managed to overwhelming endorse the "Path to Prosperity" without giving the stamp of approval to specifically slashing healthcare entitlements.    

On the same program with Hoyer, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) praised Ryan's plan as one that would put American on the right "spending trajectory. Hensarling said he believes House Republican "are united in embracing the path to prosperity" and attempted to frame the debate with Hoyer around the lack of a Democratic alternative to Ryan's plan instead of his entitlement reforms.

"As soon as the Democrats put a plan on the table and quit defending the status quo," Hensarling said, "then we can have something to debate. Right now they're defending the status quo."

Both Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) toted similar lines, championing Ryan's vision as a fact-based proposal that moves the country forward and challenging the president to have an adult conversation about the country's fiscal challenges, without commenting on the specifics of the plan. 

"The president is certainly entitled to disagree with our budget," Boehner said, "but what exactly is his alternative?"

But as politicians on the Hill have used Ryan's plan as a launching point for attacking the other party, some Republican presidential hopefuls have responded more cautiously.

Mitch Daniels showed perhaps the most support in responding to Ryan's plan, labeling it "the first serious proposal" to address the national debt. Daniels described the rising debt as a threat to "the livelihood and liberty of every single American" and accusing its detractors of being irresponsible. 

"Anyone criticizing this plan without offering a specific and equally bold program of his own," Daniels said in a statement, "has failed in the public duty to be honest and clear with Americans about the gravest danger we are facing together." 

No other candidate went that far in their endorsement of the "Path to Prosperity." Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney used similar tacks, issuing statements applauding Ryan for "offering real leadership" and "setting the right tone" in confronting America's fiscal problem.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) attempted to distance himself from the pack by staying to the right of the other potential GOP candidates, saying in a statement that Ryan's plan didn't go far enough. Santorum embraced Ryan's plan for Medicare, but added that the provisions outlined in the plan should be offered to people older than 55, commenting that "seniors should be part of this solution." 

The statement most closely resembling a rebuke of Ryan's plan came from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. In a statement released Tuesday, Huckabee called Ryan's plan "a small step to restoring fiscal sanity," but one that he doubts could ever pass the House in its current form. Huckabee implied that Ryan's proposals didn't go far enough in its cuts, adding "it's unlikely that this one proposal will be the ultimate solution to all of our economic problems."

From NBC's Catherine Chomiak and Domenico Montanaro
With two days before the current continuing resolution funding the government expires and with a potential government shutdown on the horizon, the Tea Party came back to rally in Washington today.

"We are one today,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) told the crowd of about 300 people. “We are one, standing together for resuming fiscal sanity in the United States," she said. "So, I'm here to say, be encouraged stand strong, hold your member of Congress and senator's feet to the fire, because the American people are with you, and we will prevail."

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) revved up the crowd with calls for a fight. "With a deficit this year of $1.65 trillion, a national debt of $14 trillion and a defiant liberal majority in the United States Senate, it’s time to pick a fight," Pence said. "And it's time to cut spending and cut spending now."

If the Tea Party does "stand strong," and Republicans and Democrats cannot come to an agreement on the budget, who will be to blame for the impending government shutdown?

Pence went on the offense against Democrats saying they would “force a government shutdown instead of accepting a modest down payment on fiscal discipline and reform.”

Bachmann warned Tea Party members they might be the target. "It appears that they have decided that they're going to take both feet and be stuck in the mud and not negotiate one tiddly wink, because their goal, as they've already stated is to shut the government down," Bachmann claimed. "That's their stated goal. And you know what they want to do? They want to blame it on you! They want to say that it's your fault."

Bachmann contended that despite Democrats appearing to meet Republicans halfway -- saying that they would agree to about $33 billion in spending cuts. Republicans have insisted on the $61 billion House-passed measure. Bachmann said on MSNBC's Daily Rundown this morning that she believes the $61 billion is already a compromise, because Republicans promised to cut $100 billion.

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that 37% would blame Republicans in Congress, while 20% say they would blame congressional Democrats; another 20% say President Obama would be to blame; 17% say they would blame everyone: Obama, Republicans in Congress, and Democrats in Congress; 2% would blame Obama and Democrats in Congress; and 4% say they are not sure.

From NBC's Athena Jones
FAIRLESS HILLS, Penn. -- As members of Congress struggle to reach a deal on funding the government for the next six months -- with Democrats holding the line against Republican demands for deeper cuts -- President Barack Obama traveled to a wind turbine factory in Pennsylvania to push for continued investments in renewable energy.

But, even as he touted his clean energy agenda, the president opened his remarks by addressing the ongoing budget battle, urging lawmakers to reach a compromise that would avoid a federal shutdown.

"It makes it tough to win the future when you haven't passed the budget from last year," Obama told the audience at a town hall at Gamesa Technology Corporation. "You have to make compromises as a family. That's what we are: the American family. So Democrats and Republicans need to get together, work through their differences, keep the government running so we can focus on keeping this economy growing."

The White House announced late Wednesday that the president, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Harry Reid will meet tonight at the White House after Obama returns from New York, where he is scheduled to attend an event early this evening.

Earlier Wednesday, Press Secretary Jay Carney told the press aboard Air Force One the president reserved to call a meeting with congressional budget negotiators at any time.

"He'll call a meeting at whatever hour of the day is necessary if he believes that progress is not being made, because we are very close to a situation that would bring about a shutdown in government," Carney said. "And he thinks it would be the -- highly unnecessary and the height of irresponsibility to not get an agreement when agreement is so clearly within reach."

The meeting is scheduled for 8:45 pm ET.

The latest stop-gap funding measure expires on Friday and the federal government will shut down if a new bill is not passed.

In Pennsylvania, the president spoke for about 20 minutes then spent another 30 minutes taking questions on issues ranging from the nation's electricity grid, gas prices and how to boost exports and reform the tax code to support U.S. manufacturing to oil imports from Canada, education and energy efficiency.

The energy-related town hall event comes a week after Obama unveiled his administration's plan to boost America's energy independence in part by promoting research and development in alternative sources like wind, solar and biofuels.

The White House believes the country can slash oil imports by about one-third by 2025 through these and other measures, like improving energy efficiency in buildings, raising fuel economy standards and encouraging the use of electric and hybrid vehicles. The president has argued that even during these tough fiscal times, the federal government must continue to invest in areas like clean energy that will help drive job growth and economic growth in the 21st century.

"We've got to pursue every breakthrough, every renewable resource, every technology, every approach to change the way we produce and use energy," he said. "What we want to do is promote all kinds of homegrown energy. That's what's going to help us secure our energy future."

Reducing America's dependence on foreign oil has long been a goal of this administration and then-candidate Obama made a trip here to Gamesa during the 2008 campaign. That goal has taken on new urgency as turmoil in the Middle East has helped spur an increase in gas prices at home to a weekly national average of $3.684 a gallon as of Monday, according to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. That's the highest weekly average since the fall of 2008.

The president has set a series of ambitious energy goals -- like putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 and generating 80 percent of the nation's electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. The administration has provided renewable energy grants to bolster the market for wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies as well as $2.3 billion of tax credits to expand clean energy manufacturing capacity and the president's budget for next year calls for continued investment in such program.

Obama -- who called clean energy "absolutely critical for our future" -- plans to hold another energy event -- the fourth in the past two weeks -- on Friday at an automobile transmission manufacturer in Indianapolis.

NBC's Scott Foster and msnbc.com's Carrie Dann contributed to this report.

"You're fired" isn't a message Republican primary voters and Tea Party supporters are telling real-estate mogul Donald Trump, at least not yet.

According to the latest national NBC/WSJ poll, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the hypothetical 2012 GOP pack with support from 21 percent of Republican primary voters -- followed by Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 17 percent each, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 11 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 10 percent.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is at 6 percent, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gets 5 percent, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum receives 3 percent and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour gets 1 percent.

Strikingly, Trump -- who has received a considerable amount of attention for incorrectly stating that President Obama wasn't born in the U.S. -- finishes first among Tea Party supporters (at 20 percent), followed by Romney (17 percent), Huckabee (14 percent), Palin (12 percent) and Gingrich (9 percent). (Trump hosts the "The Apprentice" on NBC. Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC-Universal and Microsoft.)

When the field is whittled down to five Republicans -- Bachmann, Barbour, Gingrich, Pawlenty and Romney -- Romney leads with 40 percent, Gingrich comes in second with 20 percent and Pawlenty is third with 12 percent.

The full NBC/WSJ poll can be seen here.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
In a race that has become ground zero for liberal anger against Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg has now taken an unlikely, and razor-thin, lead over Republican David Prosser in the battle for Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice.

Updated results from the Associated Press, as of 3:15 pm ET, show Kloppenburg leading by 204 votes, reversing the 585-vote lead Prosser held overnight.

Prosser, the incumbent in the race, was seen as the far-and-away favorite before the budget showdown in Madison unraveled. As NBC's John Yang reported earlier, in the four-candidate February primary, Prosser got 55% of the vote and Kloppenburg, an assistant attorney general, just 25%.

A Kloppenburg win would flip control of the Wisconsin state Supreme Court to the liberals. Conservatives currently hold a 4-3 ideological majority on the court.

This race was one of two held yesterday that were seen as referenda on Walker. Democrats won a race for Walker's old job -- Milwaukee County executive -- in a landslide. Democrat Chris Abele, a political novice, defeated Jeff Stone, a veteran Republican state lawmaker, 61%-39%, in a special election to replace Walker.

Both races saw very high turnout for a non-November election, rivaling the 2008 presidential primaries.

It’s that time of year, when throngs of visitors descend on Washington D.C. to admire fragrant blooms, pose serenely in front of the nation’s monuments, and enjoy marching bands and ornate floats.

But organizers now are scrambling to keep the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s signature parade on track in the face of a looming government shutdown.

A White House official warned Wednesday that a government shutdown would mean the cancellation of the annual parade, scheduled for 10 AM on Saturday – the day after a funding deadline for congressional negotiators.

A festival organizer pushed back Wednesday, saying that all is not yet lost for would-be parade goers, even if a deal to keep the government’s lights on falls through.

“There’s a lot of speculation out there that the event would definitely be canceled if the government shuts down, but that’s not the case at this point,” said festival spokesperson Danielle Piacente, who added that the event’s staff are “exploring every avenue possible” to make the show go on even if a funding gap occurs.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization primarily funded by private sponsors, so funding for the event itself would not be in jeopardy because of the budget standoff. “It’s not a money question,” Piacente said.

But support from the National Park Service, the D.C. government, and local law enforcement could be impacted by a shutdown, possibly derailing the parade if safety, logistics, and cleanup plans can’t be executed.

While organizers are “realistic” about the likelihood that the parade will go as planned, they point out that many other events that are part of the two-week-long Cherry Blossom celebration – including a Japanese street festival and a free public concert – will not be affected by a shutdown at all.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is expected to draw over a million visitors this year, providing the D.C. region with an influx of tourism dollars and visitors curious to learn more about their nation’s capitol.

Luckily for those tourists, the cherry blossoms themselves are in dazzling bloom, without regard for the standoff on Capitol Hill.

Which, due the fact that the D.C. government is expected to suspend trash pickup in the event of a shutdown, will hopefully make the nation’s Capitol a bit less… unfragrant.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Less than three days away from a government shutdown, House Republican leaders stood defiant today laying blame on President Obama and Democrats if the lights go out.

"The president isn't leading," House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) charged, noting first that he liked the president personally and that they "get along well."

He criticized the president for not implementing any of his own fiscal commission's recommendations in his budget.

And he upped the ante, saying House Republicans were prepared to go forward with a bold one-week continuing resolution that would cut a whopping $12 billion in spending but continue to fund the Pentagon through September.

The $12 billion figure is more than the last two continuing resolutions combined -- $6 billion for three weeks, $4 billion for two.

Boehner called it "our troop-funding bill."

This essentially means both sides are at square zero -- and they have two-and-a-half days to figure it out. Republicans set a rule that all bills would have to be reviewed for 72 hours before they are voted on. Congress is now within that window.

So the only ways a shutdown is averted is: (1) the conventional way: if the rule is suspended and both sides come up with a deal that is something less than $61 billion and more than the $10 billion that's already passed, which is possible; (2) if Democrats bite the bullet and vote for the $12 billion, one-week CR -- which seems highly unlikely; (3) if another one-week CR is passed with no changes to the budget or substantially less than $12 billion in cuts -- which isn't something it seems Republicans would agree to; (4) if a two-or-three-day CR is agreed to -- which seems it would be tough to pass in the House unless it, too, had substantial cuts.

From NBC's Pete Williams
Assuming it doesn't last very long, a government shutdown would not have much effect on the federal courts.

The U.S. Supreme Court would likely go on about its business, much as it did during the last federal shutdown. Back then, a court official says, the justices and the court staff continued coming to work, and the court remained open to visitors.

The rest of the federal judiciary -- the trial and appeals courts -- have enough money to keep going for 10 days, or two work weeks, says a spokesman for the administrative Office of the U.S. courts.

"Once that funding is exhausted, however, the federal court system faces serious disruptions," the spokesman says. "Following their own contingency plans, federal courts would limit operation to essential activities." That court mean that some jury trials would be postponed.

If there's a government shutdown, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that there will be enough blame to go around.

A plurality of 37 percent say they would blame congressional Republicans if the current budget disagreement leads to a shutdown of the federal government, while 20 percent say they would blame President Obama and another 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats.

Seventeen percent say they would blame everyone, and another 2 percent say they would blame both Obama and congressional Democrats.

The full NBC/WSJ poll -- which was conducted March 31 to April 4, 2011, and which has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points -- will be released at 6:30 pm ET.

AP

The Capitol is seen in Washington after dark. Work is intensifying in Congress to reach a deal on long-overdue legislation to finance the government through the end of September and avoid a government shutdown.

From NBC's Shawna Thomas, Kelly O'Donnell, and Carrie Dann
As talks continue on an eleventh-hour budget deal that could forestall a government shutdown, House Republican members have been given guidance to stick around this weekend rather than leave Washington for their home districts, a House aide tells NBC News.

The instructions mean that House leaders could be planning for a weekend session of Congress to pass some form of compromise legislation to keep a potential government shutdown from spilling into the work week next Monday.

But, while House and Senate aides say that talks are still ongoing, a concrete plan to avoid a shutdown is far from in place. The administration and congressional leaders scuttled a potential White House meeting this morning until after further negotiations.

The president, who is traveling to Philadelphia and New York today, may call congressional leaders back to the White House late tonight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told NBC News.

House Speaker John Boehner and Obama spoke by phone this morning. During the call, which lasted about three minutes, the speaker told the president that he "remains hopeful a deal can be reached," according to Boehner's office.

Reid also spoke to Obama shortly before noon today.

Reid told NBC that there could be room for compromise on the issue of policy “riders” – Republican add-ons to the budget bill that have proved sticky for negotiators trying to reach a deal.

Democrats could be amenable to riders related to the maintenance of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and a scholarship program for D.C. schools favored by House Speaker John Boehner, Democratic aides say.

But, Reid reiterated, GOP riders that would defund Planned Parenthood or pull funding for the implementation of the health care law are still flatly unacceptable to Democrats.

Even as the details of a deal continue to be hashed out, it’s unclear what form a bill to keep funding the government would take.

There appears to be no movement on one previously-floated idea on the House side -- a two or three day continuing resolution that would keep the government running for a handful of extra days as talks continue. Republicans have also not determined whether or not to bring a proposal to the House floor that would cut $12 billion from current levels – an offer that was rejected by the White House earlier this week.

The current government funding measure runs out on Friday, April 8.

*** UPDATE *** NBC's Luke Russert reports that House GOP leaders, accusing the president of "not leading" on the budget, now say that they will call for a vote tomorrow on the one-week budget extension that cuts $12 billion and extends DoD funding for the rest of the fiscal year.