WH: Obama Wants 'Clean' Debt Vote

The Hill reports:

White House officials maintained Friday that the administration wants to see a "clean" increase to the federal debt limit, despite President Obama saying it will likely be paired with spending cuts.

The administration has maintained for months that Congress should not attach other provisions to a vote to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, which it expects to hit in mid-May. Republicans are demanding major spending reforms in exchange for their votes to raise that limit.

But in a Friday interview, the president said he expects some spending cuts to be part of the deal, seemingly changing the administration's stance in the negotiations.

"I think it's absolutely right that it's not going to happen without some spending cuts," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

However, when asked about the president's comment, White House press secretary Jay Carney said it is "imperative" that a debt-limit vote not be "held hostage to any other action, because of the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling."