NEW : `` Just to sit here by myself serves no purpose , '' says GOP congressman leaving Mitch McConnell and Hill leaders are set to meet Thursday , but hopes for progress are low . Hill rejects competing Democrats and Republican alternatives to the current cuts . Speaker John Boehner , referred to two GOP-authored bills the chamber passed last Congress on partisan lines to replace the now-imminent spending cuts . Democratic , Democrats blame each other for $ 85 billion in widely disliked spending cuts .
NEW : `` Just to sit here by myself serves no purpose , '' says GOP congressman leaving Mitch McConnell and Hill leaders are set to meet Thursday , but hopes for progress are low . Hill rejects competing Democrats and Republican alternatives to the current cuts . Democratic , Democrats blame each other for $ 85 billion in widely disliked spending cuts .