Congress has now sent the President the Defense appropriations bill, an extension of this year's continuing resolution, and the Labor/HHS appropriations bill. The President will sign the Defense bill, the first appropriations bill of the year to be enacted, and the CR, but he's expected to veto Labor/HHS, and doesn't even seem to be considering negotiating with Congress over its funding levels. The Hill: President Bush rejected a plea this past weekend to open a dialogue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to resolve the impasse over federal spending. Pelosi and Reid, who had hoped to send Bush a $65 billion veterans and military construction spending bill, pleaded in a letter sent to the president on Saturday that he show "some willingness to find common ground." "We write today to make it clear we welcome this dialogue," Reid and Pelosi wrote. "Key to this dialogue, however, is some willingness on your part to actually find common ground. Thus far, we have only seen a hard line drawn and a demand that we send only legislation that reflects your cuts to critical priorities." The White House declined their offer and demanded that Congress send Bush the appropriations bills "one at a time — as they promised the American people — and within the reasonable spending limits recommended by the president," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement Saturday. Update: It's official- the President has vetoed Labor/HHS.