House GOP leaders announced their intention Wednesday to pass a bill this week that would only keep the government running after September 30 if President Barack Obama 's health care reform law is fully defunded . The decision sets up a high stakes game of political chicken over the next 12 days , as Democrats have repeatedly rejected any attempt to undo the president 's signature legislative achievement . `` We 're going to continue to do everything we can to repeal the president 's failed health care law , '' said House Speaker John Boehner , R-Ohio . `` The law is a train wreck . '' `` We aim to put a stop to Obamacare before it costs one more job or raises a family 's out-of-pocket expenses one more dollar , '' said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , R-Virginia . The House bill , which would keep the government running through mid-December , also locks in overall funding levels at $ 986 billion , preserving Washington 's so-called `` sequester '' -- forced across-the-board spending cuts that have been criticized by leaders on both sides of the aisle . Obamacare , spending showdown heats up in House . Most congressional Democrats , opposed to further cuts in non-defense spending , have expressed their strong opposition to such a move . In addition , the GOP bill states that Social Security and disability payments need to receive top priority if Congress and the president are unable to raise the federal debt ceiling by mid-October . A failure to extend the nation 's borrowing limit and pay bills already incurred risks an unprecedented national default . Obama and other Democratic leaders have warned they will not cave to GOP demands for new spending cuts in exchange for a hike in the debt limit . `` I 'm happy to negotiate with ( congressional Republicans ) around the budget , just as I 've done in the past , '' Obama told business leaders on Wednesday . `` What I will not do is create a habit , a pattern , whereby the full faith and credit of the United States ends up being a bargaining chip to set policy . It 's irresponsible . '' The president told his audience to `` flip the script for a second and imagine a situation in which a Democratic speaker said to a Republican president , ' I 'm not going to increase the debt ceiling unless you increase corporate taxes by 20 percent . And if you do n't do it , we 'll default on the debt and cause a worldwide financial crisis . ' '' `` That ca n't be a recipe for government , '' he said . A less confrontational strategy initially backed by GOP leaders unraveled last week . Government shutdown : Again ? Seriously ? Numerous House Republicans threatened to defeat a temporary spending measure proposed by their leadership because it did not directly link continued government funding with a ban on money for the new health care law . Conservative groups such as Tea Party Patriots and Heritage Action for America praised the harder line now adopted by Boehner and other GOP leaders . `` Senate Democrats and President Obama must make a decision : shut down the government to protect a destructive , unpopular law or acknowledge Obamacare has failed and can not be salvaged , '' said Michael Needham , communications director for Heritage Action . One Republican , Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry , told CNN that conservative activists had been strongly engaged with House members on the issue in recent weeks . I `` absolutely heard from a lot of our conservative groups over the ( summer ) break about defunding Obamacare , '' Terry said . `` The pressure was absolutely there ... ( though ) I did n't feel like it was pressure per se because I agreed we need to do away with Obamacare . '' Opinion : Worried about Obamacare ? Fear not . Another Republican , freshman Rep. Trey Radel of Florida , predicted the White House will eventually give in to at least some GOP demands . `` I think the president will negotiate with us , '' he said . Other Republicans seemed less sure . `` We ca n't let the government shut down , '' said Rep. Peter King , R-New York . `` We ca n't be kamikazes and we ca n't be General Custer . '' A top Senate Democrat warned House Republicans they were playing a losing hand . `` Republican leaders in the House have decided to give the hard right their day in the sun , and decided to pursue an agenda that they know will never , ever be signed into law , '' New York 's Chuck Schumer said . `` Reasonable Republicans , stop these zealots in your party from driving our economy off a cliff . '' Meanwhile , with a potential government shutdown less than two weeks away , the White House budget office directed federal agencies on Wednesday to prepare for a potential shutdown . Sylvia Burwell , director of the Office of Management and Budget , told federal agencies to update their plans in the event no agreement is reached before September 30 , the end of the fiscal year . `` Prudent management requires that agencies be prepared for the possibility of a lapse , '' Burwell wrote .
The Republicans proposed bill tying federal funding to end of Obamacare funding . GOP plan locks in current spending levels and prioritizes spending if debt ceiling is n't raised . Democrats have said they will not fight over Obamacare or the debt ceiling . Treaty over the debt ceiling ` ` ca n't be a recipe for government , '' Obama warns .