On Wednesday, the House resumed debate on bills to fund certain limited parts of the federal government – these bills were considered but did not pass the House on Tuesdayand the House decided to reconsider them under different rules and procedures. Tuesday evening the House passed three separate funding measures – to fund the DC government (taken by voice vote, or no roll call), to fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (254-171), and to fund the national parks (252-173). The bills have been sent to the Senate, which has indicated they are not interested in passing individual spending measures, according to reports.

House and Senate leaders met at the White House yesterday evening. Present at the meeting were President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It was reported that no deal was struck as a result of the meeting and that Obamacare continues to be the sticking point in negotiations.

With the shutdown lingering, President Obama announced yesterday that he will shorten a planned trip to Asia this weekend, and will reevalute the entire trip later this week.

On the non-shutdown front, House Democrats released draft immigration legislation and the House passed H.R. 3233, which would extend the period for special immigrant status to Iraqis employed by the U.S. government.

And the shutdown continues…