John Boehner

Why Republicans Are Flirting With Debt Limit Debacle 2.0

Brian Beutler | May 16, 2012, 4:53AM

House Speaker John Boehner with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the foreground.

Whether or not he can make it stick in any meaningful way, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) revealed on Tuesday that Republicans still have an appetite for debt limit brinksmanship -- even after the last round nearly crippled the economy, and left the GOP's congressional approval ratings in the sewer.

When Republicans went home for recess last August, after placing the country's AAA credit rating at risk, and narrowly avoiding a self-imposed default on the national debt, they caught such an earful from constituents that they spent several weeks toning down their rhetoric and avoiding big public spats with Democrats.

So what gives? Why would Republicans signal to voters that they want to put the country through the same fiasco again -- particularly when the outcome of the presidential election remains in doubt and Boehner's House Republicans are already expected to lose several seats?

There are several plausible, in some ways self-reinforcing, explanations. And they all reflect the degree to which the Republican Party has been radicalized and behaves as if it's in the midst of an insurgency. But they don't change the fact that selling the public -- and more to the point, voters in swing districts -- on the idea of a Christmas-time debt limit fight is going to be deadly politics.

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Debt Ceiling

Is Boehner's Debt Limit Threat All Hot Air?

Brian Beutler | May 15, 2012, 4:00PM

Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob J. Lew, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) wants to add a plot twist to the post-election lame-duck session of Congress that will be deliberating how to avoid automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect in January 2013. The twist? He wants to use the debt limit as leverage to make sure tax increases aren't part of the equation. His message today to the White House: If you want my cooperation on raising the debt limit, don't even think about raising taxes.

But for Boehner's threat to be feasible, the government would have to run out of borrowing authority in November or December. That seems unlikely.

Treasury officials note -- and Secretary Timothy Geithner made clear Tuesday -- that the administration expects to be able to manage its accounts in such a way that the true deadline for raising the debt limit won't actually come until early next year -- after the fiscal cliff on January 1, and possibly after the new Congress is sworn in. Which means it's unclear if Boehner's threat has any teeth to it.

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Deficit

How Republicans Threw In The Towel On Deficit Reduction

Sahil Kapur | April 18, 2012, 5:01AM

For anyone who paid even passing attention to U.S. politics in 2011, the themes were loud and persistent: Republicans had stormed back into Washington to put an end to excessive government spending and runaway deficits, and would take no prisoners if Democrats stood in their way. The GOP's bravado manifested in a series of partisan clashes over must-pass legislation, and climaxed in near economic calamity when Republicans refused to raise the federal debt limit.

Fast-forward to 2012 -- the GOP's leverage is gone, and the legislative landscape on Capitol Hill has fallowed. Republicans are still running on deficit reduction, but as the election nears, their governing agenda reveals something that close observers recognized all along: Deficit reduction was never the point. Whether acceding to political reality, or proactively moving messaging bills through the House, the GOP has quietly let on that they're fine with deficits -- as long as they come in the right flavors.

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Steny Hoyer

Hoyer: GOP Too Irresponsible To Manage A Balanced Budget Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 15, 2011, 12:07PM

House Republicans are painting Democrats like Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as hypocrites for opposing a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment set for a Friday floor vote -- even though they voted to send an identical amendment off to the states for ratification in 1995.

In his weekly briefing with reporters Tuesday, Hoyer offered a comprehensive defense of his change of heart and argued that Republicans have proved too irresponsible to steward a country that is required by its Constitution to maintain balanced budgets every year.

"Since I voted in January of '95 a lot of things have happened," Hoyer said.

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Balanced Budget Amendment

Despite Packed Agenda, Congress Returns To Radical Balanced Budget Amendment

Brian Beutler | November 14, 2011, 6:01AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Houser Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Congress is busy. It has to extend federal funding for all federal agencies before November 18, or else the government will shut down, and the deficit Super Committee has to recommend a big package of budget cuts to the House and Senate by November 23, or set in motion dramatic automatic spending cuts to defense programs and Medicare providers. But it's still suffering a hangover from the debt limit fight. And so this week House GOP leaders will fulfill one of the terms of the debt limit law, and appease some conservatives, by holding a vote on a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment.

There's a bit of a strife among Republicans -- and even among some Democrats -- over the details of such an amendment. But almost any version would constitute a radical policy shift for the country, and threaten key safety net programs as the country ages and the cost of health care soars. It would lead to dramatic swings in U.S. fiscal policy, and at a time of high unemployment, would cost the economy dearly.

Don't believe me, here's what analysts at Macroeconomic Advisers said about it.

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Jobs

How Obama's Jobs Plan Could Trigger Another Debt Limit Fight Before Election Day

Brian Beutler | September 19, 2011, 6:15AM

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

If President Obama manages to get his entire jobs plan passed -- a big if, of course -- it will quicken the pace at which the federal government is burning through its new borrowing authority and could set up another debt limit battle with Republicans before Election Day 2012.

There are several variables at play, and another debt limit fight before the election wouldn't be a sure thing. But it's not out of the question, especially if economic growth between now and then is weaker than predicted.

A slower-than-expected economy -- or a double dip recession -- combined with the jobs bill's $447 billion price tag, means the federal government could run out of borrowing authority right about October 2012, according to one worst-case-scenario estimate. The deal to raise the debt limit last month was designed to give the government enough cushion to make it past the election before the parties would have to square off again. But that was before Obama introduced his new jobs plan, and before revised economic forecasts revealed the economy's in worse shape than economists believed earlier this year.

Here are the variables to watch that could come together to create an exquisitely timed political crisis:

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Default

Who's Really Responsible For U.S. Debt Downgrade

Brian Beutler | August 17, 2011, 10:00AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

This article was updated at 10:00am Eastern on August 17, 2011 to include additional names pointed out by TPM readers.

Now that Standard & Poors has confirmed that the chorus of default doubters in the GOP was part of what spooked them into downgrading the U.S. credit rating, Republicans will do all they can to pretend that they never questioned the risk of missing payment obligations, or allowing borrowing authority to lapse. But they sure did! Here's a long, partial timeline of influential Republicans either vouchsafing default, or downplaying the consequences of passing the August 2 deadline without raising the debt limit.

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Debt Ceiling

Perry Was A Default Doubter (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | August 17, 2011, 9:49AM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

As if attacking the Fed chairman and opposing expansionary economic policy wasn't enough to give markets (and perhaps fundraisers) pause, it turns out Rick Perry, like a long list of right wing Republicans, downplayed the risk of allowing the country's borrowing authority to lapse.

"There's still gonna be revenues flowing in, so I think this threat that somehow or another the world is going to come to an end and the threat of, 'We're not going to be able to pay our bills' is a bit of a stretch," Perry told reporters in Houston. "[Americans] want the government to continue to function, they want our military young men and women to be paid on time. They want the programs out there that help the citizens of this country to be taken care of [but] most Americans know this: We've spent too much money. We've gotten our house in bad shape, and we need to stop spending."

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Rick Perry

Rick Perry's 1st Campaign Video: Obama Caused The S&P Downgrade

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 15, 2011, 3:24PM

Rick Perry TV Ad "Rick Perry: Time to Get America Working Again"

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is kicking off his presidential campaign with a bit of creative spin on S&P's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating: turns out President Obama did it.

In his first and bio-heavy campaign video of his presidential campaign, Perry places the blame for the downgrade squarely on the shoulders of Obama. This comes despite the fact that S&P itself says the slew of congressional Republicans who were (at best) apathetic about default were responsible for the rating agency's controversial decision.

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Debt Ceiling

After Triggering Downgrade, Debt Default Skeptics Try To Run From Their Records -- But They Can't

Brian Beutler | August 12, 2011, 10:16AM

Standard & Poors has a specific justification for downgrading the U.S. bond rating, and it's deadly for Republicans. It wasn't just that Congress showed itself to be reckless and dysfunctional, or that the GOP shows no sign of ever ending their anti-tax jihad. It's that for a period of weeks, some lawmakers (read: Republicans) were quite literally shrugging off the risks of blowing past the August 2 deadline, running out of borrowing authority, and missing payment obligations.

"[P]eople in the political arena were even talking about a potential default," said Joydeep Mukherji, senior directior at S&P. "That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable," he added. "This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns."

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Health Care

DeMint: Obama Administration The 'Most Anti-American' In My Lifetime

Brian Beutler | August 11, 2011, 11:25AM

Jim DeMint

Conservative power-broker Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) ran through his litany of complaints about President Obama on Janet Meffered's Christian conservative radio show Wednesday, and concluded that of all the anti-American administrations in his lifetime, Obama's is the most anti-American.

"We saw within a few days that this President was going to be heavy-handed, he was going to implement his agenda and pay back his political allies, and it just went on from there to ObamaCare and then to Dodd-Frank," DeMint said.

It has been the most anti-business and I consider anti-American administration in my lifetime. Things that are just so anathema to the principles of freedom, and everything he has come up with centralizes more power in Washington, creates more socialist-style, collectivist policies. This president is doing something that's so far out of the realm of anything Republicans ever did wrong, it's hard to even imagine.

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Barack Obama

GOP Rep Tells Tea Party Activists He's Open To Impeaching Obama For...Something

Brian Beutler | August 9, 2011, 1:18PM

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)

A House Republican says he wants President Obama impeached -- he's just not sure why! As long as the ensuing gridlock stymies President Obama's agenda, it's the right thing to do.

Pressed by Tea Party activists angry that he voted for the debt limit deal, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) said he wouldn't vote to raise the debt limit again and said he'd be happy to see President Obama impeached for...something.

"It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up," Burgess said. "No question about that."

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Debt Ceiling

The New Default: A Sad History Of The Debt Limit Fight

Brian Beutler | August 2, 2011, 12:49PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Barack Obama

Well, we didn't default.

That's the most a lot of Democrats can say about the legislation that just passed in the Senate, by a vote of 74-26. Those voting against were 19 Republicans, 6 Democrats and one independent - Vermont's Bernie Sanders.

Although some Democrats are relieved to have at least avoided the doomsday scenario of default, they're also deflated by the fact that the GOP has leveraged its control of one house of Congress into complete dominance of the policy debate.

Democrats lost this fight for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that the consequences of default are as unfathomable as they are unnecessary. That's why, in the past, raising the debt limit has been a matter of routine, or at worst an occasion for harmless partisan preening. If borrowing authority ever lapses, the country would initially face a major problem, and, soon thereafter, a deadly one.

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Debt

HIGH NOON: The Senate Will (Probably) End The Debt Ceiling Crisis At Midday

Thomas Lane | August 2, 2011, 6:00AM

If all goes well in Washington today, then shortly after noon the nation's debt ceiling crisis should be over. Around that time the Senate is due to take up last-minute legislation that the House passed Monday night.

Senate leaders seem confident they have at least the 60 necessary votes to carry the deal. If they're right, then the final bill would move swiftly to the President's desk for his signature. Once the ink is on the page, the the debt ceiling can be raised ahead of the nearing deadline, and the ticking timebomb of default will be defused.

It will be the end of a dangerous game of chicken that shook markets across the world as creditors faced up to the possibility that for the first time in its history America might fail to pay its credit obligations.

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Nancy Pelosi

Biden Meets With Furious House Democrats

Brian Beutler | August 1, 2011, 3:15PM

V.P. Joe Biden

House Democrats convened Monday afternoon in an underground conference room in the Capitol Visitor's Center to hear Vice President Joe Biden explain the debt limit deal he helped broker with Congressional Republicans, and to vent to reporters in the strongest possible terms about the deal many of them are being asked to consider supporting.

"They expressed all their frustrations," Biden told reporters after the meeting. "I feel confident that this will pass."

He must've gotten an earful. The meeting, scheduled to last an hour, dragged on for over two. During that stretch, a steady trickle of Dems, entering and exiting, stopped to complain about the legislation, and the extent to which they'd been closed out of the process of crafting it.

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Congressional Budget Office

CBO: Debt Limit Deal Reduces Deficits At Least $2.1 Trillion

Brian Beutler | August 1, 2011, 11:40AM

CBO Director Doug Elmendorf

At this point it's just a formality. Just about every agreed-to spending cut and deficit reduction provision in the debt limit bill had already been scored, leaving the outcome in little doubt.

But the Congressional Budget Office has weighed in and confirms that the debt limit deal will reduce deficits by over $2.1 trillion at a minimum over 10 years.

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Debt Ceiling

The Four Big Problems With -- And Four Silver Linings Around -- The Debt Limit Deal

Brian Beutler | August 1, 2011, 11:00AM

President Barack Obama

Progressives are furious. Conservatives are somewhat less furious. And for the most part all anybody knows about the budget plan is that it cuts a lot of spending over 10 years, and includes no guarantees that anybody -- particularly the well-off -- will pay more in taxes. Thus, the anger: after huge tax cuts for the rich, two unfunded wars, and a financial crisis triggered by Wall Street greed exploded budget deficits, the people asked to narrow the gap are overwhelmingly regular folks.

All of this while the economy is still reeling. It might not be as bad as this, but there's certainly a lot missing here.

So with that background in mind, here are the four worst problems with, and four silver linings around the debt limit deal.

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Debt

Grover Norquist Backs The New Debt Deal

Thomas Lane | August 1, 2011, 6:00AM

Grover Norquist

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has at least one powerful ally in his latest effort to sell the GOP on a debt deal: tax hater extraordinaire, Grover Norquist.

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Debt Ceiling

IT'S A DEAL! Obama, Congressional Leaders Announce Deal To Avoid Default

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2011, 8:48PM

President Barack Obama meets with Democratic and Republican leaders

We'll know in a few hours whether the major and controversial deal to raise the national debt limit and advance major cuts to government services, announced by President Obama and Congressional leaders on Sunday evening, will make its way smoothly to law.

After an intense day of direct and shuttle negotiations, and after a tentative agreement nearly fell apart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the floor of the Senate late Sunday to announce an agreement in principle.

"The compromise we have agreed to is remarkable for a number of reasons, not only because of what it does, but because of what it prevents," Reid said.

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Harry Reid

Reid Agrees To Major Debt Limit Deal -- Here's What He's Signed Off On

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2011, 5:52PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has signed off on a deal to raise the debt limit pending the approval of his caucus -- and of course if can win the backing of Senate GOP leaders and then a majority of the House.

His spokesman confirms that Reid will present the deal to his caucus shortly, with the hope of holding a vote on it Sunday night, giving House leaders some running room to pass the plan before the nation's borrowing authority expires late Tuesday.

The deal works like this:

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Debt Ceiling

Levin Expresses Dem Frustration With Obama And The Looming Debt Limit Deal

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2011, 2:49PM

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)

Speaking with reporters after Sunday's failed debt limit vote, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) criticized President Obama for not seizing the initiative and forcing a balanced plan for deficit reduction. He also explained the problems with and merits of a still-forming bipartisan plan that will raise the debt limit.

The key for now, as explained here, is that it avoids default in a way that assures deep spending cuts over the coming decades -- including to entitlement programs -- but provides no guarantees of higher tax revenues.

Specifically the plan calls for a new congressional committee to make and expedite tax and entitlement reform recommendations before the end of the year. If the reforms fail, early leaks suggest that would trigger across the board spending cuts -- including to defense and entitlements -- but no new tax revenue.

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Debt Ceiling

Senate Votes Down Reid Bill, Awaits Obama/McConnell Spending-Cut-Only Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2011, 1:29PM

Shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, the Senate voted down Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt limit bill.

That plan has been outmoded by a new one, hammered out by the White House and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, that's still being finalized. When it's completed, it will be attached as an amendment to Reid's bill (Reid will be able to recall that legislation by voting to filibuster his own plan, knowing it's doomed anyhow).

As noted here, the McConnell/Obama plan is likely to contain an enforcement mechanism comprised entirely of spending cuts -- both to domestic and defense programs -- that will kick in if a bipartisan fiscal committee doesn't report a package of entitlement and tax reforms later this year.

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Debt Ceiling

Dems, GOP Float Eye-Popping Debt Limit Compromise

Brian Beutler | July 31, 2011, 9:20AM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

Very late on Saturday, multiple reports sketched out the framework of a debt limit compromise President Obama has struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

As noted here, the issue under contention was the design of a so-called "trigger," -- a penalty written into the bill meant to encourage Congress to pass further bipartisan deficit reduction legislation, authored by a new Special Committee, later this year. Here's what they've reportedly come up with, pending approval from Congressional Democrats and Republicans.

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Debt Ceiling

BREAKING: Dems Delay Debt Limit Test Vote

Brian Beutler | July 30, 2011, 9:31PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Democrats have delayed a key Sunday morning test vote on legislation to raise the debt limit, as negotiations to avoid a catastrophic debt default drag on.

Late Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced on the Senate floor that the White House is making progress in those negotiations, but several issues remain unresolved.

"There are negotiations going on at the White House now on a solution that will avoid a catastrophic default," Reid said. "There are many elements to be finalized, there is still a distance to go before any arrangements are to be complete. I've spoken to the White House quite a few times this weekend, and they've asked me to give everyone as much time as possible."

Earlier Saturday, Dems were prepared for the 1 a.m. vote to fail, based on continued disagreement between the two parties over how to assure future cuts to entitlement programs and tax reform, according to a highly placed Democratic source. That vote is now scheduled for 1 p.m., Sunday.

Both the House and Senate debt limit votes call for the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral committee tasked with reducing the deficit by at least $1.8 trillion through entitlement and tax reform. But Republicans are reluctant to count that $1.8 trillion toward the debt limit increase unless there's a viable penalty in place that would be triggered if the committee gridlocks, Congress fails to pass their proposal, or President Obama vetoes it.

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Debt Ceiling

Nice Try! Senate Kills Boehner Debt Limit Bill -- Preps Endgame To Avoid Default

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2011, 8:21PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

As promised, all Senate Democrats aligned Friday night to kill the just-passed House Republican bill to raise the debt limit.

The roll call fell closely along party lines, 59-41, with all Democrats voting to table Speaker John Boehner's controversial bill, joined by several Republicans who also oppose that plan.

Now we enter a period of calm. Before midnight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to introduce his own debt limit bill -- amended to include more spending cuts, and a few as-yet undisclosed carrots, to entice enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation.

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Debt Ceiling

After 24 Hours Of Theatrics, Boehner Faces Hardest Test Yet

Susan Crabtree | July 29, 2011, 6:40PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. Harry Reid (R-NV)

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) recovered Friday after a set of bruising setbacks this week, but his real test will come over the weekend when he's forced to quickly negotiate a bill that will attract enough Democratic support to offset the inevitable GOP losses on his right flank while not alienating his base of support and losing too many Republicans -- all under incredibly tight time pressure as the August 2nd default deadline looms ever larger.

Just how he threads the needle will be the most difficult test of his leadership yet.

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Debt Ceiling

Now What? House GOP Passes Unviable Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2011, 6:35PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

It was supposed to happen Wednesday, then again on Thursday. It was supposed to be a squeaker, and potentially a viable measure to avoid default. But in the end there was no suspense, and the vote was mostly ceremonial. Early Friday evening, House Republicans passed legislation to raise the national debt limit -- their final symbolic gesture in a partisan debate that has raged for months and seen the GOP bring the country to the brink of economic collapse.

The final vote was 218 in favor to 210 against. Zero Democrats joined the majority, and only 22 Republicans voted with the Democrats.

When discussions between Boehner and President Obama over pairing a the debt limit extension and deficit reduction measures fell apart, the task of avoiding default fell to Congress -- and presented Boehner with a major challenge: How could he be both a responsible steward of the country and usher through bipartisan legislation to avoid a catastrophic default, and not break faith with his members.

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Debt Ceiling

Tacking Right: How John Boehner Convinced Republicans To Back His Debt Limit Plan

Brian Beutler | July 29, 2011, 12:09PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

After his members dealt him a stunning defeat Thursday, and forced him, for the second time to pull and amend his plan to raise the debt limit, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has figured a way out.

Once-reluctant Republicans -- including Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Jeff Landry (R-LA), and Phil Gingrey (R-GA) -- streamed out of a House GOP caucus meeting Friday morning to announce they'd changed their minds, and will now support Boehner's bill.

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Debt Ceiling

COLLAPSE: Boehner Pulls Debt Limit Bill Again, With Days Left Before Default

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2011, 10:48PM

What was originally described as a brief snafu has turned into a stunning rebuke of House Republican leaders, who were unable Thursday to round up the minimum number of votes to pass Speaker John Boehner's debt limit bill.

The vote, originally scheduled for 6 p.m., was delayed at the last minute, when Boehner and his leadership team finally faced the harsh reality: despite a swing of momentum in their direction over the previous 24 hours, they didn't have the votes. And with no Democrats there to help them, they needed 217 Republicans to be on board. They were not.

Boehner and his leadership team met for hours, in various leadership offices, with reluctant members, and persuasive supporters, hoping to cobble together a majority. Meanwhile, leadership aides insisted for as long as possible that a vote was still planned late Thursday.

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Debt Ceiling

BREAKING: Short Of Votes GOP Leadership Postpones Vote On Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2011, 5:36PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and other members of the GOP leadership

Despite a days-long push to force their conservative members into line, and sneak Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) debt limit bill through the House of Representatives, GOP leadership has postponed a scheduled vote on the legislation -- a sign that their efforts have thus far failed.

This evening, members were alerted that Boehner and his leadership team were delaying the vote, which had been scheduled for 6 p.m.

"Members are advised that the House GOP Leadership has postponed the votes on the motion to recommit and final passage of S. 627 - Speaker Boehner's Short Term Default Act (amending the Faster FOIA Act of 2011)," reads a notice from Minority Whip Steny Hoyer's (D-MD) office to his whip team.

The measure could still come up for a vote late Thursday, but not until the House holds a series of back to back votes on unrelated issues.

The announcement landed well after U.S. markets closed.

Debt Ceiling

Reid: Senate Dems Will Defeat Boehner Plan Tonight

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2011, 1:00PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

If the House of Representatives passes Speaker John Boehner's debt limit bill on Thursday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he'll take up the legislation right away and, using procedural tools at his disposal, defeat it immediately.

"Today the House of Representatives will vote on Speaker Boehner's short-term plan to raise the debt ceiling," Reid said on the Senate floor. "As soon as the House completes its vote tonight, the Senate will move to take up that bill. It will be defeated. No Democrat will vote for a short-term Band-Aid that would put our economy at risk and put the nation back in this untenable situation a few short months from now."

Often scheduling a vote in the Senate requires more than a two day wait. But to expedite the process, and to prove as swiftly as possible that Boehner's plan is DOA in the Senate, Reid will move to table the bill. All Democrats will vote to table the legislation, Reid has said, and then it's on to the next step.

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Debt

Republican Freshmen Fall In Line For Boehner's Debt Bill

Igor Bobic | July 28, 2011, 12:55PM

The GOP's large freshmen class appears to be largely supportive of Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) debt bill that would raise the debt ceiling by $900 billion and cut nearly $917 billion over 10 years, signaling that what just a few days ago seemed certain to fail is looking more and more likely to pass.

Boehner was publicly confident that his party would coalesce around his legislation, spiritedly telling TPM that it would be a "Zippity-do-da day" before a closed-door meeting with his conference at the Capitol early Thursday morning. However, moments later he reportedly told his caucus that he didn't have the votes yet.

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Allen West

House Republicans Unprepared For Senate Rejection Of Boehner Debt Limit Plan

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2011, 11:33AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told his Republican caucus Thursday morning that he doesn't yet have enough committed support to pass his debt limit bill -- a high stakes vote that will take place just hours from the time of this writing.

Most of his members believe he'll get there quickly -- even among the opponents of his bill, it's hard to find anybody who believes with any confidence that Boehner's plan will go down.

Earlier this week, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) -- chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee -- told reporters Boehner lacked the votes to pass his legislation. Today he's not so sure. "[T]hey weren't there at the time, we'll see what happens," he told me.

But if it passes, Republicans will have to grapple with a key question -- one they haven't really considered, and which Boehner hasn't prepared them to answer: What happens when the Senate sends them back a different plan?

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Debt Ceiling

Republicans And Democrats Decry Each Other's Nearly Identical Debt Limit Plans

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2011, 5:52AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Republicans and Democrats inveigh against each others' competing debt limit bills with about equal intensity. Harry Reid's bill is filled with gimmicks and phantom cuts, Republicans claim. John Boehner's doesn't get the job done deficit-wise, Democrats counter, and will likely result in a U.S. credit rating downgrade anyhow.

Members of both parties have threatened, implicitly and explicitly, that they'd rather not raise the debt limit -- that they'd rather risk the consequences of a debt default -- than allow the other's plan to pass unamended.

The irony in all this is that while both complaints are pretty fair, the plans themselves are so similar that under normal circumstances merging them into one bill would be easy. And yet, with the country's borrowing authority set to expire in less than a week, that isn't happening -- at least not until House Republicans choreograph one more symbolic vote, and heighten the Congress', the market's, and the country's growing sense of urgency.

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Debt

CRAM IT! ALL Senate Dems Tell Boehner His Debt Limit Plan Is DOA

Brian Beutler | July 27, 2011, 6:45PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

The entire Senate Democratic caucus -- including independents Joe Lieberman (CT) and Bernie Sanders (VT) -- have a succinct message for House Speaker John Boehner: cram it!

In a Wednesday letter, the Democrats seek to prove what Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been saying for days: nobody in his party will vote for Boehner's debt limit plan, and he should stop claiming it's a viable solution to the looming default crisis.

"With five days until our nation faces an unprecedented financial crisis, we need to work together to ensure that our nation does not default on our obligations for the first time in our history," the Dems write. "We heard that in your caucus you said the Senate will support your bill. We are writing to tell you that we will not support it, and give you the reasons why. A short-term extension like the one in your bill would put America at risk, along with every family and business in it. Your approach would force us once again to face the threat of default in five or six short months."

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Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

Dems Pounce On 'The Town' Clip: 'Who Are They Planning To Hurt?'

Igor Bobic | July 27, 2011, 2:58PM

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) strongly chided the GOP today for using a movie clip from the film "The Town," in which two criminals agree to a revenge attack, in order to rally lawmaker support for Speaker Boehner's new debt bill currently being rewritten in the House.

The playing of the clip, organized by members of House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) staff, happened in a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday. It features Ben Affleck's character asking for a friend's aid in order to "hurt some people."

"Who are they planning to hurt?" demanded Wasserman Schultz, adding: "Unfortunately that short clip from 'The Town' tells you everything you need to know about their approach to the negotiations over the debt ceiling," she said, after showing the clip to the attending media.

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Debt

GOP Establishment Starts Leaning Hard On Internal Rebels

Thomas Lane | July 27, 2011, 1:50PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

The fast-developing Republican civil war appears to have wracked up its latest injured, the most prominent of which is Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (OH). Following his attacks on Speaker Boehner's debt limit proposals, reports indicate he himself came under heavy assault. Meanwhile, the RSC's executive director, Paul Teller, was facing calls for his sacking over his emails opposing Boehner.

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Debt Ceiling

Dems Prepare For Boehner Plan To Pass House

Brian Beutler | July 27, 2011, 1:13PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

A 24 hour delay, and the revival of Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) debt limit plan in the House have changed the legislative calculus in Congress, and now Senate Democrats are piecing together how to move forward if Boehner prevails Thursday evening.

"It appears quite clear that Boehner -- a favor was done by CBO for him yesterday because his bill was doomed to failure," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters Wednesday. "And he can juggle things around, and had a caucus today, and he may get it passed, but it doesn't matter. That is a flawed piece of legislation."

Reid says Democrats will decide precisely how to proceed once the gavel comes down on Boehner's vote. House Democrats are expected to oppose that bill unanimously, making Boehner's margin for error very thin -- but momentum within his caucus is in his favor with just over 24 hours before that vote.

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Debt Ceiling

Hope For Boehner? Some House Conservatives Closing Ranks On Debt Limit Bill

Brian Beutler | July 27, 2011, 11:26AM

On Tuesday, conservative Republican Study Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) predicted defeat for House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) plan to raise the debt limit.

"I am confident as of this morning that there are not 218 Republicans in support of the plan," he said.

He was counting on the opposition of dozens of House conservatives who have in the past pledged not to raise the debt limit on terms that compromising with Democrats would require.

Twenty-four hours later, after taking a beating from the GOP establishment and party leadership, and after watching Democrats grow more and more confident in their ability to split the Republican coalition, those conservatives are reconsidering their rebellion.

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Debt Ceiling

CBO: Reid's Plan Doesn't Cut Spending As Much As He Says--But Still More Than Boehner's Does

Brian Beutler | July 27, 2011, 9:50AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Compared to House Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is a happy man right now.

The Congressional Budget Office says his debt limit bill will reduce deficits relative to the current baseline by about $2.2 trillion over 10 years -- much more than House Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) bill, which scored such small savings Tuesday evening that he pulled it to include more spending cuts at the last minute.

But it's not all good news for Reid. First, Republicans are already dismissing the big numbers because they rely heavily on savings from winding down wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those savings are what you call "budget gimmickry," when the other party relies on them, so the GOP says they shouldn't count.

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