Live blog: House GOP budget bid a bust? White House says it’s a nonstarter

A tentative proposal by House Republicans to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling, along with changes to the Affordable Care Act, looked to be heading toward an early demise Tuesday morning, with Senate Democrats and the White House saying they wouldn’t touch the House deal.

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage called the new House proposal another attempt to “demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation’s bills.”

LIVE BLOG: Scroll down for all the latest developments

And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tweeted Republicans were “attempting to torpedo the Senate’s bipartisan progress. Their plan cannot pass the Senate.”

Negotiations over a bipartisan plan in the Senate continued even as the House proposal appeared on its way to implosion, with the Obama administration expressing some optimism that the Senate effort could produce success.

During a news conference Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said “there is a potential” for a resolution to the partial shutdown and the potential debt limit crisis, but he wouldn’t say whether the administration thought a deal could be reached before the debt ceiling deadline of Thursday at midnight.

“There’s no question we are close to a very important deadline,” he said when pressed on the issue. “Time is of the essence.”

President Obama was set to meet with House Democratic leaders later Tuesday.

Stay tuned to the Los Angeles Times’ live blog throughout the day, as we report the latest from the rapidly moving debate in Washington.