WASHINGTON — Picking up the pieces after the latest round of debt negotiations imploded, congressional leaders met with President Barack Obama on Saturday and began work on a Republican-backed plan to cut spending by roughly $3 trillion over 10 years for their vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to a leadership aide familiar with the deal.
Although the proposal still faced stiff hurdles with Democrats, House Speaker John Boehner — who abruptly broke off talks Friday — told GOP leaders in a conference call Saturday that he hopes to report significant progress, if not a deal, within 24 hours, according to a participant.
But as talks continued into the evening, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he was “deeply disappointed in the status of the negotiations with my Republican colleagues.” At issue is whether Republicans will agree to raise the debt ceiling through the end of 2012, as Obama has demanded.
Time is running short. Administration officials say if Congress doesn’t vote to raise the debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline, the U.S. government will not be able to pay its bills, unnerving investors and lenders around the globe.
Saturday’s meeting at the White House lasted less than an hour and yielded no apparent breakthrough. Congressional aides stressed that heavy lifting had moved to Capitol Hill, where party leaders from both chambers aimed to pull together a package that could be presented to rank-and-file members by Monday. That time frame could serve to reassure global financial markets and allow just enough time to move a budget reduction bill through both chambers in the next week — with little room for error.
Republicans emphasized that they are starting from scratch and are not picking up the Plan B proposal floated earlier this month by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and then altered by Reid.
A new House proposal likely would break the spending cuts into two phases, said the aide, who was not authorized to talk about the negotiations and requested anonymity. The initial proposal also would raise the limit in two phases, an idea that Democrats have opposed, the aide said.
Furthermore, the GOP plan did not include new tax revenue, although Democrats intend to push that key issue in negotiations.
Obama is seeking a $2.4 trillion increase to the limit, enough to cover borrowing through 2012. Democrats made it clear Saturday they will not accept a short-term deal.
The negotiations
In talks Saturday in the Capitol, congressional aides were looking at an immediate debt-limit increase of about $1 trillion, officials said, with slightly higher spending cuts to be locked into place simultaneously. Another $1.4 trillion in additional borrowing authority would be needed to satisfy President Barack Obama’s demand that any deal extend into 2013.
