Lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that there was likely not enough time to get a “grand bargain” for cutting the deficit passed through Congress by an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, and that a short-term increase might be necessary before a more comprehensive deal is reached. “My guess is we will have to do a short-term extension,” of the debt limit, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., told The Washington Examiner.
Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he believes the House should raise the debt ceiling just enough to cover the federal government’s expenditures through the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
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“Through the end of September, Congress basically has an obligation to increase the debt ceiling to that level,” Issa said. “That’s why Aug. 2 doesn’t make any sense. Oct. 1 does. The principled thing to do is pass the debt limit to that level.”
Beyond that, Issa said, Congress could raise the debt limit according to the spending allocated for the 2012 budget year. “That’s the only thing that’s on our constitutional table.”
The short-term solutions come as congressional lawmakers remain at odds over a larger deal that would raise the debt ceiling through 2012.
President Obama on Wednesday signaled his realization that such a plan is probably highly unlikely to pass Congress in time to beat the Aug. 2 and said he would accept a short-term deal that would allow time to “finalize” a bigger plan.
Rogers said the Aug. 2 date, however, “needs to stay in place to force us to come to some conclusion on the concept. Once we get a concept that everyone agrees on and the White House is on board with, then it will require, no doubt, a short term extension.”
Lawmakers spent Wednesday reviewing a new plan put forward by the bipartisan “Gang of Six” senators that would cut the deficit by $3.7 trillion by making big spending cuts, reforming the tax code and overhauling Social Security.
A group of Democrats were briefed on the new plan Wednesday afternoon, with many of them saying they needed more details before deciding whether to back it.
An aide to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the plan “falls short” in some areas, but did not completely reject it.
In the meantime, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to find ways to incorporate parts of the Gang of Six plan into a deal Reid is writing with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would give Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling in three installments.
Many House Republicans, meanwhile, want a balanced-budget amendment as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, and some don’t want to raise the debt ceiling at all.
“I don’t think we have to do it and it’s not good policy to do so,” Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., told The Examiner.” We’ve got to put in place a policy that will pay down this huge debt.”
