WILLIAMSBURG, Va.--House Republicans will scale back their ambitions in an upcoming fight over raising the nation’s debt ceiling, settling on a strategy at their closed-door retreat under which they would accept a short-term in increase in the nation’s legal borrowing limit but require that the Senate pass a budget before agreeing to any longer term increase in the limit.
Under a bill to be considered next week, House Republicans will propose raising the debt ceiling for three months--long enough, they say, to give both chambers time to pass a budget. The measure will provide that if either chamber fails to adopt a budget by April 15, members of Congress would not be paid.
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“This is the first step to get on the right track, reduce our deficit and get focused on creating better living conditions for our families and children. It’s time to come together and get to work,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), in a statement outlining the plan.
[Weigh in on the GOP's proposal to raise the debt ceiling for three months in The Washington Post's new discussion forums.]
That strategy is unlikely to find favor with Democrats, who believe dragging out the debt ceiling fight into the spring would insert new and damaging uncertainty into the economy.
But it indicates Republicans are groping for a new and more pragmatic approach to the coming fight, fearful the government default that would result if Congress failed to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling by the end of the February or early March could cause lasting damage to the GOP brand.
“What we’re saying is: Pass a budget, to the senate. We’ll move the debt ceiling for the short term,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House’s third ranking Republican, explaining the new strategy to reporters. ”We’ll see what your budget is. We’ll do our budget. So we can put us on a path towards a balanced budget,” he said.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told Republicans as they concluded their retreat behind closed doors at a golf resort, that a long term increase in borrowing limit would require agreement on a budget.
“We are going to pursue strategies that will obligate the Senate to finally join the House in confronting the government’s spending problem. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay,” Boehner said.
He indicated that a long-term increase in the debt ceiling not accompanied by meaningful spending cuts would avoid default, but also “invite a downgrade of our nation’s credit that damages our economy, hurts families and small businesses, and destroys jobs.”
A senior Democratic Senate aide said the new strategy is a sign Republicans are deeply anxious about being blamed for a default--and pressure will only rise from the business community for action the February deadline approaches.
But he rejected the idea of a short-term increase.
“Keeping the nation’s creditors in suspense on a monthly basis about whether we are going to fulfill our obligations is no way to run a government. For our economy to grow, we need to provide more certainty,” he said.
Besides removing the immediate threat of default from the debate, for Republicans, a short-term debt ceiling increase would shift the debate about the need to control spending to future deadlines where Republicans believe they have more leverage, including broad automatic cuts set to hit the military and domestic programs in early March and the expiration of a funding mechanism keeping the government running at the end of that month.
And it would also focus new attention on the Democratic-Senate’s failure to pass a budget resolution in three years.
Both chambers are required to pass non-binding budget resolutions by April 15, but the Senate has routinely failed to do so anyhow. Republicans argue passing a budget is the first step to establishing a long-term spending plan that can be used to dent deficits over time.
They also believe the budget issue is a politically potent weapon. Ordinary Americans, they believe, understand budgets and highlighting the Senate's failure to pass one might finally budge poll numbers that have shown the public has blamed House Republicans more than Democrats for two years worth of spending gridlock in Washington.
Senate Democrats say they believe a non-binding budget resolution is not necessary since the House and Senate agreed on how much to spend on government programs over the course of the next several years in the Budget Control Act, the law passed in August 2011 that allowed the nation’s debt ceiling to rise the last time.
Under a bill to be considered next week, House Republicans will propose raising the debt ceiling for three months--long enough, they say, to give both chambers time to pass a budget. The measure will provide that if either chamber fails to adopt a budget by April 15, members of Congress would not be paid.
Graphic
Find out all about the new faces in the 113th congress — sort by state, party, gender and chamber and see who was elected where and why.
More from PostPolitics
Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake The likelihood of a small-bore bill in Congress coupled with the near-certainty of record growth in membership and money are a sort of best-of-both-worlds scenario for the NRA.
Glenn Kessler FACT CHECKER | We weigh the evidence and compare his misdeeds to other notable figures.
INTERACTIVE | See how unabated stress has changed the president over the past four years.Read more
“This is the first step to get on the right track, reduce our deficit and get focused on creating better living conditions for our families and children. It’s time to come together and get to work,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), in a statement outlining the plan.
[Weigh in on the GOP's proposal to raise the debt ceiling for three months in The Washington Post's new discussion forums.]
That strategy is unlikely to find favor with Democrats, who believe dragging out the debt ceiling fight into the spring would insert new and damaging uncertainty into the economy.
But it indicates Republicans are groping for a new and more pragmatic approach to the coming fight, fearful the government default that would result if Congress failed to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling by the end of the February or early March could cause lasting damage to the GOP brand.
“What we’re saying is: Pass a budget, to the senate. We’ll move the debt ceiling for the short term,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House’s third ranking Republican, explaining the new strategy to reporters. ”We’ll see what your budget is. We’ll do our budget. So we can put us on a path towards a balanced budget,” he said.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told Republicans as they concluded their retreat behind closed doors at a golf resort, that a long term increase in borrowing limit would require agreement on a budget.
“We are going to pursue strategies that will obligate the Senate to finally join the House in confronting the government’s spending problem. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay,” Boehner said.
He indicated that a long-term increase in the debt ceiling not accompanied by meaningful spending cuts would avoid default, but also “invite a downgrade of our nation’s credit that damages our economy, hurts families and small businesses, and destroys jobs.”
A senior Democratic Senate aide said the new strategy is a sign Republicans are deeply anxious about being blamed for a default--and pressure will only rise from the business community for action the February deadline approaches.
But he rejected the idea of a short-term increase.
“Keeping the nation’s creditors in suspense on a monthly basis about whether we are going to fulfill our obligations is no way to run a government. For our economy to grow, we need to provide more certainty,” he said.
Besides removing the immediate threat of default from the debate, for Republicans, a short-term debt ceiling increase would shift the debate about the need to control spending to future deadlines where Republicans believe they have more leverage, including broad automatic cuts set to hit the military and domestic programs in early March and the expiration of a funding mechanism keeping the government running at the end of that month.
And it would also focus new attention on the Democratic-Senate’s failure to pass a budget resolution in three years.
Both chambers are required to pass non-binding budget resolutions by April 15, but the Senate has routinely failed to do so anyhow. Republicans argue passing a budget is the first step to establishing a long-term spending plan that can be used to dent deficits over time.
They also believe the budget issue is a politically potent weapon. Ordinary Americans, they believe, understand budgets and highlighting the Senate's failure to pass one might finally budge poll numbers that have shown the public has blamed House Republicans more than Democrats for two years worth of spending gridlock in Washington.
Senate Democrats say they believe a non-binding budget resolution is not necessary since the House and Senate agreed on how much to spend on government programs over the course of the next several years in the Budget Control Act, the law passed in August 2011 that allowed the nation’s debt ceiling to rise the last time.