SUDDENLY THEY WANT A BUDGET?: Senate Democrats block defense appropriations bill.

The 50-45 vote to limit debate on proceeding to the bill came as Democratic leaders sent a letter demanding a bipartisan meeting to negotiate an end to sequestration spending caps mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“We cannot and we should not fix part of our government and not the other part,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said before the vote. “We have until this fiscal year ends in the fall to work this out. And that’s what we should do.”

The defense appropriations bill was the first test of the Democrats’ threat to block all fiscal 2016 spending bills without an overall budget agreement. The threat has been backed up by President Obama, who had pledged to veto the bill if it clears Congress.

So suddenly the Democrats want a budget? Hardly. Earlier this year, the Republicans passed a non-binding blueprint budget resolution without the support of a single Democrat in either chamber. But now Congress needs to translate this blueprint into specific, department-by-department appropriations measures, and the Democrats are making it clear that they will oppose all of them, backed up by the threat of Obama’s veto.

The Democrats’ real strategy is to prevent the GOP-controlled Congress from making progress on “normal” budget appropriations, forcing another fall showdown (the fiscal year ends Sept. 30) that would result in a lame continuing resolution and/or government shutdown.