Debt ceiling debate shifts to Congress
Politico reports
The budget debate will shift next week from the White House to the halls of Congress, with Republicans scheduling a series of largely symbolic votes as the Aug. 2 deadline for hiking the debt limit draws near.
The White House told congressional leaders to keep their schedules open for a possible weekend negotiating session, likely Sunday, according to a Hill aide. But the real action through mid-week will be on the Senate and House floors, where Republicans will seek passage of a popular conservative plan to cut spending, balance the budget and put a cap on overall federal spending.
The GOP’s “Cut, Cap and Balance” proposal won’t make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate, so the votes will be more about clearing the political decks and appeasing the GOP base before a final deal can be reached.
After five days of talks at the White House, President Barack Obama said Friday that he expects Congress will vote “on a couple of things just to make political statements.” He said he still wants lawmakers to come together on a plan to reduce the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over 10 years, but he also suggested that he could support a smaller package with only spending cuts.
“We are obviously running out of time,” Obama said Friday during his second press conference of the week.
Senate leaders continue to negotiate a compromise plan, first offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), that would cede power to the president for raising the debt limit. The proposal could be paired with budget cuts of $1 trillion or more and the creation of a special congressional committee to recommend further deficit-reduction measures.
Senate aides said Friday that this proposal could begin to move in their chamber next week, although passage in the House is far from certain. Even Obama isn’t enthusiastic about the “fallback plan.”
“If we take that approach, this issue is going to continue to plague us for months and years to come,” he told reporters.
