House GOP leaders seek short-term debt extension

House Speaker John Boehner planned to ask fractious Republican lawmakers on Thursday to support a six-week extension of the government’s ability to borrow money, even as Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Congress of “irrevocable damage” that an unprecedented federal default would risk.

Boehner, R-0hio, was expected to broach the plan at a private morning meeting of GOP House legislators, just hours before he and other Republican leaders were traveling to the White House to discuss their budget battle with President Barack Obama.