Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid flatly rejected -- again -- any changes in the nation's new health care law as part of any budget bill.
The House of Representatives wants change, but Reid told reporters, "They're spinning their wheels. We are not going to change Obamacare."
If the Republican-led House persists, he said, it will be blamed for a shutdown.
"I have a very simple message to John Boehner: Let the House vote. Stop trying to force a government shutdown," Reid said. "Let the House work its will, all 435 members, not just the majority. If they brought this bill to the floor with a rule and said everyone can vote on it, it would pass by a large margin. It would prevent a government shutdown.
"If John Boehner blocks this, he will be forcing a government shutdown, and it will be a Republican government shutdown, that's pure and simple."