Republican leaders offer reprieve to US debt crisis
WASHINGTON (AP) Ñ House Republican leaders Friday offered President Barack Obama a threemonth reprieve to a looming, marketrattling debt crisis, backing off demands that any immediate extension of the government’s borrowing authority be accompanied by stiff spending cuts.
The retreat came with a caveat aimed at prodding Senate Democrats to pass a budget after almost four years of failing to do so: a threat to cut off the pay of lawmakers in either House or Senate if their chamber fails to pass a budget this year. House Republicans have passed budgets for two consecutive years.
The idea got a frosty reception from House Democrats but a more measured response from the White House and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Republicans hadn’t settled on full details, but the measure would give the government about three more months of borrowing authority beyond a deadline expected to hit as early as mid-February, No. 2 House Republican Eric Cantor said Friday.
The legislation wouldn’t require im- mediate spending cuts as earlier promised by Republican leaders like House Speaker John Boehner. Instead, it’s aimed at forcing the Democratic-controlled Senate to join the House in debating the federal budget.