House GOP to hold 'clean' vote to raise $14.3T debt ceiling

By Russell Berman - 05/24/11 10:29 AM ET

House Republicans will hold a vote next week on a "clean" bill to raise the debt limit, without corresponding spending cuts, GOP aides said.

The vote is aimed at demonstrating that such a measure cannot pass the House, increasing pressure on President Obama and Senate Democrats to accept deep spending cuts in exchange for authorizing the Treasury to borrow more than the $14.3 trillion current limit.

GOP leaders informed members of the House conference of the plan at a meeting this morning, a spokeswoman for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told The Hill.

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he had introduced the necessary legislation on Tuesday.

"The legislation I filed today will allow the House to reject a clean increase in the debt limit, proving to the American people, the financial markets and the administration that we are serious about tackling our debt and deficit problems," he said in a statement.

“Increasing the debt limit without showing that we can achieve real spending restraint would likely lead to very similar results as default a lower credit rating, higher borrowing costs and more expensive imports. Such irresponsibility would most certainly increase the cost of oil and gas, making the pain at the pump that much worse. All of that is bad for the economy, bad for job creation and bad for American families."

Camp said his bill would raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, the amount necessary under Obama's budget proposal to carry the government through 2012. Republican leaders have demanded at least one dollar in spending cuts for every dollar in new authorized borrowing.

Cantor is scheduled to meet later Tuesday with Vice President Joe Biden and other members of Biden's commission on deficit and debt reduction. The government officially reached the current limit last week, but Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the department could stave off a first-ever default until Aug. 2.

“The Obama administration’s request for a debt-limit increase without spending cuts is dangerous for jobs and our economy, and the American people reject it," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "This vote will show that the administration’s proposal cannot pass in the House, and that major spending cuts and reforms must be part of the solution.”