House GOP: Debt ceiling likely not part of stopgap bill

WASHINGTON — House Republicans probably won’t include an increase in the federal debt limit in a stopgap spending bill headed for a vote this week to keep the government operating past Thursday, lawmakers said.

While a final decision hasn’t been made, Rep. Pete Session of Texas, head of the Rules Committee, said Monday he “does not anticipate” including the debt ceiling in the temporary spending legislation that’s headed for a vote in the next two days.

Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, who is leading a task force on the debt ceiling, said after leaving House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office that the debt ceiling probably won’t be addressed.

Republicans were meeting Monday night to work out other provisions in the spending bill, including more money for the Pentagon.

A measure to increase or suspend the debt ceiling could be added to other legislation before the end of the month.

John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said the chamber would wait for the House to act.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week that the Treasury Department will exhaust accounting moves to prevent default in the first half of March.

CBO had previously said a debt default could be held off until late March or early April.

A key reason for the change is the implementation of December’s tax overhaul through new withholding tables in February, CBO said.

Separately, the Treasury said that it expects to be able to fund the government through the end of February, and it urged Congress to “act promptly” to increase the limit.