WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner says Republican leaders have assured the president that they think Congress needs to raise the debt limit and that “you can’t play around” with the possibility of defaulting on the country’s obligations.
He said GOP leaders “recognize” that they still had to vote to avert default even if there is no deal on budget-cutting by the time the country hits the $14.3 trillion debt limit sometime around the middle of May.
“I heard them say that to the president,” Geithner said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But Republican lawmakers on Sunday morning shows pushed back against that idea, indicating they aren’t ready to give up the looming debt-ceiling issue as leverage to get spending cuts.
“Nobody’s saying we want to see default,” House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We just want some cuts and controls going forward.”
