So After All That And A Government Shutdown, We're Back To Where We Were On Saturday

After a weekend of theatrics has led to the first partial federal government shutdown in 17 years, Congress is at the same spot it was on Saturday.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted Tuesday morning to kill the House GOP's motion to go to conference over the continuing resolution to keep the government funded, a plan that was hatched late Monday night by House Republicans. The Senate tabled the motion by a 54-46, party-line vote.

That puts the House in the same spot in which it found itself Saturday morning. House Speaker John Boehner has the option to pass the Senate's so-called "clean" continuing resolution, or try to pass a bill more to Republicans' liking that they think could be a starter in the Senate.

A House GOP leadership aide said plans aren't firm at this point.

Here's a brief reminder of what has happened since Saturday, when the House came back to work after being sent a bill from the Senate that stripped language defunding Obamacare:

• Saturday: The House decided against passing the Senate's CR, instead attaching to it two "poison pill" amendments that fundamentally altered the Affordable Care Act. The first two House amendments delayed Obamacare by one year and repealed a tax on medical devices.
• Monday afternoon: The Senate immediately tabled the two amendments, sending the CR back to the House.
• Monday night: The House decided again to not pass a "clean" CR, adding two more Obamacare-related amendments. These amendments delayed just the individual mandate by one year, and added language that would bar lawmakers, Congressional staffers, and administration staffers from receiving federal subsidies for health insurance under Obamacare.
• Less than an hour later, the Senate again rejected the House's amendments, putting the ball back in the House's court.
• The House of Representatives is now pushing for a conference committee with the Senate to iron out differences. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats have objected to this, saying Republicans are trying to negotiate with a "gun to our heads."