"I'd like to see that done earlier," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. | AP Photo Senate GOP plans July debt ceiling vote But House Republicans aren't showing their hand yet.

Senate Republicans are planning for a July vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to senators and aides.

But House Republicans aren't prepared to show their hand yet, although they also hope to resolve the issue before the August recess begins. Yet with a possible health care vote in July — if the Senate passes a bill — top House Republicans are worried that the two issues could become entangled politically, making two already difficult votes even tougher.


Though the Treasury Department has said Congress can likely wait until September to avoid default, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants are increasingly disposed to clearing the Senate’s plate as much as possible before heading home for August recess. That would also likely mean decoupling the debt ceiling from a potential government shutdown fight in September.

It’s not clear what exactly such a bill would look like, but members of both parties are interested in a broad spending deal that would avoid the blunt budget cuts of sequestration. A “clean” debt ceiling increase — one with no policy strings or cuts attached — might be a problem for a GOP majority filled with fiscal conservatives.

There is also an emerging consensus among Hill leaders that the debt ceiling — currently $20 trillion — should be raised by an amount large enough to preclude another vote for several years. This would make it politically dicey for fiscal conservatives, yet it would be easier for most rank-and-file lawmakers to just have one vote this Congress.

“I’d like to see that done earlier,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas when asked about lifting the debt ceiling in September. “I’m hoping there will be a negotiation on spending caps. Maybe it will be part of that.”

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On Monday, Republican Senate staffers were provided new schedule guidance laying out that the preferred debt deadline is before the August break.

In the House, GOP leaders have not formally settled on a plan to raise the debt ceiling, according to multiple sources. The topic, which is toxic for many in the more right-leaning chamber, is expected to be discussed Wednesday morning during a GOP Conference meeting on the budget and appropriations process.

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus have called for spending cuts to accompany any increase in the nation’s borrowing limit, and more than a few GOP leadership allies have bristled at the idea of doing a clean debt ceiling increase, as Democrats have demanded in previous years.

But GOP leaders in the House are eyeing what’s feasible in the chamber across Capitol Hill. And since Senate Democrats will never go for spending cuts, the idea will likely remain a far-off hard-liner dream.

There may be some rank-and-file support among House Republicans to piece together a bipartisan budget deal to raise spending caps, as is being discussed in the Senate. More than 141 defense-minded House Republicans signed a letter in early May asking GOP leaders to raise the cap on the Pentagon budget.

Senate Democrats would be loath to support a military boost without increases for domestic programs as well. Some GOP defense hawks may be willing to negotiate to do both. It’s unclear, however, whether they would want to link that to a debt ceiling vote.

