Reid, Pelosi: Congress Should Pass Stop-Gap Budget Resolution

The top Democrats in the U.S. Congress, Representative Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid, said on Thursday lawmakers should pass a short-term spending measure, known as a continuing resolution, to buy time for negotiating a comprehensive federal budget and avoid a government shutdown.

The two leaders had huddled with President Barack Obama for 90 minutes at the White House to prepare "to pursue conversations leading to negotiations on how we keep government open," Pelosi told reporters outside the White House, adding that they would like to proceed in "a timely fashion."

"The three of us agree that we want a short-term CR (continuing resolution). We want to make sure that the riders are off that. We want to make sure we have equal money for defense and non-defense," Reid said. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Eric Walsh)