Republicans Enter Talks With Obama on Debt Limit Increase
President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders were moving toward an agreement to extend the nation’s borrowing authority as they remained at odds over terms for ending the partial government shutdown.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio yesterday said he would offer as soon as today a measure to postpone a potential U.S. default to Nov. 22 from Oct. 17. The step back from the brink triggered the biggest rise in U.S. stocks in nine months.
House Republican leaders met with Obama for 90 minutes at the White House late yesterday. The developments were the first sign that the president and congressional Republicans could resolve the fiscal impasse without negative economic consequences from a default as the halt in government operations moved into its 11th day.
Any prospective deal faces questions, including whether Boehner can make a deal with Obama without losing the support of his members who are backed by the limited-government Tea Party. They’ve sought to use the debt ceiling and government shutdown to force curbs on Obamacare and federal spending.
Obama didn’t accept or reject House Republicans’ plan for a short-term increase in the debt limit. The two sides planned further talks among their staff members last night to address the president’s insistence that Republicans agree to fund the government before starting broader fiscal talks.
“No specific determination was made,” the White House said in a statement. The two sides talked about “potential paths forward.”
Senate Republicans
Senate Republicans, who are scheduled to meet with Obama at 11:15 a.m. today at the White House, are developing alternative debt-ceiling proposals.
One plan, being developed by Susan Collins of Maine, would pair provisions to raise the debt ceiling and end the shutdown with a repeal of a medical-device tax included in the 2010 heath care law.
Democrats, even those who support repealing the medical device tax, have been adamant that they will refuse to do so as part of an agreement to end the shutdown or raise the debt ceiling.
Democratic aides have said they are open to allowing Republicans to offer amendments to their debt proposal, particularly if that helps gain early support to advance the bill. Such amendments almost certainly would be rejected.
‘Path Forward’
Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, called yesterday’s meeting with Obama “constructive” and that, with talks continuing, “hopefully we will have a clearer way, path forward.”
Obama began the meeting by acknowledging that Republican leaders’ offer to extend the debt limit was a positive step while urging them to stop the shutdown, according to a Democratic official who asked not to be identified discussing the closed-door deliberations.
