House Speaker John Boehner has been quietly telling colleagues in the House that he will do whatever possible to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt, including using Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling on October 17.
According to several aides familiar with the discussions, Boehner has been meeting with fellow legislators in small groups over the last few days, assuring them that he would not allow a so-called “clean continuing resolution”—the current cause of the three-day-old government shutdown—to come to the floor, but that would he not allow a debt default.
At least one GOP lawmaker said Boehner would be willing to violate the Hastert Rule, which unofficially prohibits legislation from being brought to a vote unless it has the support of a majority of the GOP caucus, in order to raise the debt ceiling. Boehner has previously relied upon Democratic votes to pass the Violence Against Women Act, Hurricane Sandy relief funding, and to fix a different financial crisis.
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Many have predicted that the speaker would attempt to roll the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling into one negotiation, in hopes of achieving some sort of “grand bargain” to resolve both issues. But the need to secure Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling would significantly complicate Boehner’s ability to negotiate a bargain that would appease the far right constituency of the House.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel would not comment specifically on the discussions.
“Speaker Boehner has always said that the United States will not default on its debt, but if we’re going to raise the debt limit, we need to deal with the drivers of our debt and deficits,” Steel said.
[Image via CNN]