On Monday, a bill that would have raised our nation’s debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion failed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 97-318. The outcome of the clean debt ceiling vote was never in question. The House Republicans used the vote as an opportunity to ensure that an increase in the debt limit – which must be raised by August 2 – will be accompanied by significant spending cuts and budgetary reform.
The vote on the debt ceiling was followed by a meeting with the entire House Republican Conference and President Obama to discuss a path forward on addressing our nation’s debt. The general consensus from Members of Congress at the meeting was that nothing new came out of it and the two sides are no closer to agreement on the debt ceiling or a larger budget agreement.
All of this is being done while Vice President Biden holds debt-reduction talks with a bipartisan group of House and Senate Members with a goal finding common ground on a deficit reduction plan that can be part of any vote to increase the debt ceiling. House Speaker John Boehner has expressed concern that Biden’s discussions are progressing too slowly. As a result, Boehner has offered to get personally involved in the negotiations and encouraged President Obama to do the same to prevent the discussions from going down to the wire of the August 2 deadline.
To view a simple breakdown of the current debt and budget situations that are driving these debates and discussions, click here.
For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.
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