OVERNIGHT MONEY: House GOP seeks unity on agenda

FRIDAY'S BIG STORY:

Back to the grindstone: House Republicans will continue their issues retreat in Williamsburg on Friday as they look to rally their members around a series of fiscal policies. 

Republicans seemed to be making some headway during discussions on Thursday, prompting House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to tell reporters that there are talks about passing a short-term debt ceiling increase to buy some time for broader deficit-reduction negotiations with Democrats, The Hill's Russell Berman reported. 

“We’re discussing the possible virtue of a short-term debt limit extension so that we have a better chance of getting the Senate and the White House involved in discussions in March,” Ryan said.

The House GOP is trying to build consensus around a trio of fiscal battles that are rapidly approaching — raising the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, replacing the automatic spending cuts of sequestration and expiration of government funding at the end of March.

“Our goal is to make sure our members understand all the deadlines that our coming, all the consequences of those deadlines that are coming, in order so that we can make a better-informed decision about how to move, how to proceed,” Ryan said.

Business groups, and pretty much everyone else with a stake in the economy, are urging lawmakers and the White House to work together and quickly raise the debt ceiling, avoiding any further risk to the nation's credit rating or the broader economic recovery, which is being hampered by indecision over fiscal policy.

International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde pushed on Thursday for a quick increase to the debt ceiling. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress that the nation is getting perilously close to a point when he will run out of ways to pay the nation's bills and that quick action, by mid-February at the earliest.

In March, $85 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts are scheduled to start and lawmakers have until the end of March to finalize a bill to keep the government running. 

Meanwhile, a handful of conservative groups said they want the promise of a balanced budget to run in tandem with raising the debt ceiling. 

The groups say they want a plan that balances the budget within 10 years that does not raise taxes, a tall order for anyone trying to balance the books. 

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR

Mayors continue meeting: The U.S. Conference of Mayors continues its winter meeting with another group of Obama administration officials and lawmakers on Friday. 

About 300 mayors will hear from Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk along with Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska). 

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 

Michigan Sentiment: Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan will release its measure of consumer sentiment for January.

State Employment Numbers: The Labor Department is set to release December regional and state employment figures as well as workers' wages for the final three months of the year. 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Bank economists see 'fiscal cliff' deal slowing economy in 2013

— Housing construction hits nearly five-year high in December

— Jobless claims fall to five-year low

— Senators: Dodd-Frank lawsuit ‘fundamentally’ threatens Congress’s power

— Audit: More work needed to keep refunds from prisoners

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