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In the Republican-controlled House, a mere 28 Republicans voted in favor of a clean debt-ceiling hike. And it passed. So when did John Boehner become a Democrat? On second thought, don't answer that question. Here is a complete list of Republicans who voted in favor of the bill: Boehner Calvert Camp Cantor Coble Collins Dent Fitzpatrick Grimm Hanna Hastings (WA) Issa King (NY) LoBiondo McCarthy(CA) McKeon Meehan Miller Nunes Reichert Rogers(KY) Roskam Royce Runyan Shimkus Smith(NJ) Valadao Wolf

The House passed a “clean” debt ceiling increase Tuesday granting President Obama power to borrow as much as the government needs for the next 13 months, after House Republican leaders surrendered their longstanding vow to demand concessions in exchange for any debt hike. Unable to muster his own troops, GOP Speaker John A. Boehner had to turn to Democrats to provide the votes to pass the legislation, which cleared on a 221-201 vote. The bill now goes to the Senate, which needs to pass it before the end of the month or else the Treasury Department says it will run...

Apparently a 17 trillion national debt, 50 million on welfare, and billions given away to illegal immigrants isn't enough to raise the ire of the Republican Party. Speaker Boehner and the GOP are once again preparing to raise the debt ceiling; a hardline, legislative stipulation designed to halt runaway spending that threatens our economic viability. And yet these are the hypocrites who claim conservatives, like the Tea Party, are the real problem. Sorry, John, but sound fiscal principles – like having a balanced budget in order to avoid massive debt, inflation, a crumbling private sector and a worthless currency –...

If there was any doubt after the government shutdown and last protracted battle over the debt ceiling, this cave from Republicans should make it clear: The debt ceiling is no longer a legitimate political weapon. House Speaker John Boehner will bring a "clean" debt-ceiling increase to the floor on Tuesday night. For Republicans, it completes an epic swing in positions from 2011, when they first made the debt-ceiling increase a major vehicle to try to force spending cuts from President Barack Obama and Democrats. Consider the swing: In 2011, Boehner established the rule in his namesake — "the Boehner rule,"...

Yet. He might not have the votes yet. They’re not going to hit the ceiling with an election eight months away.But the fact that the Speaker himself, who rarely votes, feels he needs to lead by example this time shows you how reluctant the rest of the caucus is. Boehner says he has spoken with Pelosi about need for D votes, needs to find 18 R votes to help pass clean— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 11, 2014 Boehner will vote for clean hike, Cole says it'll be tough to get 17 more Rs, but thinks GOP can get there…— Robert...

House Republicans will vote to cleanly raise the debt ceiling today. They will do so relying on Democrat votes to make it happen. Many House Republicans will vote against raising the debt ceiling. But before they do that, they will vote for the rule related to the legislation. Each major piece of legislation has a rule that gets voted on setting out the parameters of debate, etc. If the rule passes, more often than not the legislation itself passes. Voting for the rule thereby enables the underlying legislation to pass. The Republicans get this and the House GOP will often...

Just one day after unveiling a plan to link a lift in the debt ceiling to restoring cuts to military pensions, House Speaker John Boehner announced on Tuesday that he would push a "clean" debt ceiling increase. Under a "clean" bill, the nation's debt ceiling would increase without any corresponding spending cuts or policy changes. The new plan means Boehner likely will have to violate the long-standing "Hastert rule," where only legislation that has support from a majority of the GOP caucus is brought up for a vote. The "clean" debt ceiling increase will require a majority of Democrat support...

House Republicans are abandoning their plan to lift the debt limit and restore military pension cuts due to flagging support from the rank and file. The announcement was made Tuesday morning in a private GOP meeting.

With the President delaying, again, parts of Obamacare, House Republican Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker John Boehner have declared they will not raise the debt ceiling unless the President does two things: (1) delay Obamacare by a year and (2) approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. In fact, Congressman Paul Ryan is standing shoulder to shoulder with them, telling Robert Costa, “Shutting down the government puts us on the wrong side. The fight is on the debt limit”. Further, the GOP won’t even bother fighting on a continuing resolution because they feel so strongly the debt ceiling is the path forward...

(UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew Friday urged Congress to raise the federal borrowing limit to "provide certainty to the economy and to the financial markets."In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Lew said the Treasury was implementing extraordinary measures to pay the government's bills as of Friday, with the expiration of a temporary suspension of the statutory debt limit that was part of the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2014 -- a compromise spending bill that led to the end to a government shutdown."Because Congress has not acted to approve normal borrowing authority, Treasury must begin implementing...

(Reuters) - Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives have penciled in a possible vote next week on legislation to raise the debt limit, a sign that they are moving closer to deciding whether to try to attach conditions to any increase. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Friday left a spot open in his weekly House floor schedule for "possible consideration of the legislation related to the debt limit" on Wednesday.A temporary extension of the $17 trillion U.S. debt ceiling expires at midnight on Friday, forcing the U.S. Treasury Department to resort to extraordinary cash management measures to...

House Speaker John A. Boehner scrambled to sell a new debt-ceiling solution to his Republican colleagues on Wednesday, encouraging them to demand a restoration of recently cut military benefits in exchange for a one-year extension of the federal government’s borrowing authority. Though Boehner (R-Ohio) did not formally endorse the idea as his own, he did ask his lieutenants to test it among rank-and-file ­Republicans.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) urged conservative House Republicans on Tuesday to continue pushing GOP leaders to insist on spending reductions as any new agreement to raise the federal borrowing limit, putting him at odds with some conservatives who said earlier that doing so would just amount to “political theater.”“Of course the debt ceiling should be used to enact structural spending reforms to fix the problem, to fix the out of control spending and debt. That’s what all of our constituents expect and it’s what every member of this body tells our constituents we will do. I guarantee you,” Cruz said.The...

House Speaker John A. Boehner scrambled on Wednesday to sell a new debt-ceiling solution to his Republican colleagues, encouraging them to demand a restoration of recently cut military benefits in exchange for a one-year extension of the federal government’s borrowing authority. Though Boehner (R-Ohio) did not formally endorse the idea as his own, he did ask his lieutenants to test it among rank-and-file Republicans. House Speaker John A. Boehner scrambled on Wednesday to sell a new debt-ceiling solution to his Republican colleagues, encouraging them to demand a restoration of recently cut military benefits in exchange for a one-year extension of...

With just two days before America hits the debt ceiling deadline, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced on Tuesday his desire to raise it. "The goal here is to increase the debt ceiling," said Boehner. "Nobody wants to default on our debt."

These aren’t demands in the sense of “pass them or we’ll walk.” These are “demands” — scare quotes — in the sense of “we’re going to force Democrats to vote them down so we can use it against them in the midterms, and then we’re going to pass a clean debt-ceiling hike.”Boehner’s never been willing to risk a technical default before. He’s not going to start now, in an election year when the GOP’s looking at significant gains. Several House members told The Washington Post on Monday that Republican leaders have narrowed their list of possible debt-limit strategies to two...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit is set to fall to $514 billion this year, down substantially from last year and the lowest level by far since President Barack Obama took office five years ago, a congressional report said Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office credits higher tax revenues from the rebounding economy and sharp curbs on agency spending as the chief reason for the deficit's short-term decline. But the budget experts see the long-term deficit picture worsening by about $100 billion a year through the end of the decade because of slower growth in the economy than they had...

More Americans would blame Republicans in Congress than President Barack Obama if the nation's debt ceiling is not raised, according to a new national poll. The release of the CNN/ORC International survey on Monday came as Treasury Secretary Jack Lew issued yet another public warning to Congress to act quickly to extend the nation's borrowing authority. Fifty-four percent of those questioned say they would blame the GOP in Congress if the debt ceiling isn't raised, with 29% saying they'd hold the President more responsible. Twelve percent say they'd point fingers at both sides. The numbers are little changed from last...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration warned on Monday it could start defaulting on the government's obligations "very soon" after hitting a limit on the national debt later this month. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the federal government should hit the ceiling by the end of February unless Washington raises the nation's limit on public borrowing. The federal government would then burn through its remaining cash more quickly that it would at other times of the year because the Treasury will be issuing tax refund checks, Lew said. "Without borrowing authority, at some point very soon, it would not be...

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says Republicans will not give President Obama the unconditional debt-limit bill he wants: “I think for the president to ask for a clean debt ceiling, when we have a debt the size of our economy, is irresponsible. So we ought to discuss adding something to his request to raise the debt ceiling that does something about the debt—or it produces at least something positive for our country,” McConnell told “Fox News Sunday.” McConnell said President Obama is “unreasonable” to suggest that Congress treat his debt ceiling request “like some kind of motherhood resolution” that...