WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The second-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday he would not support a stop-gap funding measure aimed at avoiding a January government shutdown that keeps automatic spending cuts in place.
Representative Steny Hoyer told reporters that a short-term $967 billion fiscal 2014 spending plan contemplated by the majority House Republicans for such a measure was unacceptable.
"There is not a positive engagement by our Republican friends" in talks aimed at reaching a budget deal before a January 15 deadline for new government spending authority, Hoyer said.
(Reporting By David Lawder; Editing by Bill Trott)
