Under this plan, the president would be handed authority to raise the debt limit on his own, largely bypassing Congress. Lawmakers would have to approve this “last choice” option, laid out by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky. It would expire at the end of Obama’s first term.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada calls the measure “a serious proposal” and is working with Senator McConnell to improve it. No top congressional leader has ruled it out. “We’re not there yet,” he said July 14.
This plan sets forth new procedures whereby the president could raise the debt limit by as much as $2.5 trillion in three stages through 2012. With each request, Obama must submit spending cuts at least as large as his proposed increase in the debt limit. There is no requirement that Congress actually approve these cuts. Unless Congress votes a resolution of disapproval within 15 days or overrides a presidential veto (which requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate), the debt-limit increase automatically takes effect.
In other words, the president now needs 60 votes in the Senate and a majority 218 votes in the House to raise the debt limit. If the McConnell procedure were to become law, Obama could raise the debt limit with the support of only 34 senators– the number required to sustain a presidential veto.
The plan allows Republicans to avoid getting blamed for a default and still allows the debt ceiling to rise.
Sticking points: Republicans would surrender their hope of using the urgency of a debt-limit vote as leverage to force spending cuts. Some conservatives, especially those elected to Congress with strong tea party backing, don’t like that. Like Obama, they see the current situation as an opportunity to get the federal government back on a sustainable footing – though their plan for doing so (spending caps, a balanced budget amendment, and no tax increases) differs dramatically from his.
“I fear that we could lose bargaining power if we signal in advance that, by the way, if we don’t get what we what, we’ll give you guys what you want,” says freshman Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah, of the McConnell plan. “No one would ever signal to a military opponent, if we don’t get what we want we’ll just retreat.”
