The debt limit needs to be lifted by the end of February at the absolute latest. House GOP stymied on debt limit

It’s almost time to reach for the kitchen sink.

All week, House Republican leaders have been stymied in crafting a debt-limit package that could pass with only Republican support.


Now, Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other top Republicans are considering attaching a whole laundry list of provisions to the debt ceiling that do precious little to decrease the deficit but would instead serve only to attract enough Democratic support to move the legislation on to the Senate.

One option — which was widely discussed Wednesday in closed-door meetings and on the House floor — is to attach a nine-month patch of the Sustainable Growth Rate to the debt-limit increase. The SGR, or “doc fix,” as it is known on Capitol Hill, is the formula by which the federal government reimburses doctors who treat Medicare patients.

( Also on POLITICO: Budget deficit to hit new low)

Still very much in the mix is a proposal to reverse recent cuts to the cost-of-living adjustment for some military retirees. Top Republicans — including some of Boehner’s allies — think that language could also attract Democratic support. But Senate insiders say Boehner is sorely mistaken, since it would reverse a recent budget deal hashed out by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

Ryan said in a brief interview Wednesday that the COLA change wouldn’t blow up the budget deal as long as Republicans find other offsets or budget cuts.

Democrats in the House and Senate are watching with bemusement as Boehner tries to craft this package. They say his only way out of this box is to pass a clean debt ceiling bill. Most GOP leadership aides understand that’s where this debate is headed but are reluctant to say that publicly.

Wherever the House Republican Conference ends up will be a massive departure from the package Boehner and President Barack Obama reached in 2011, which included trillions of dollars in cuts.

This debate puts in plain view the inability of Republicans to move away from budget fights. Since the debt ceiling needs to be hiked by the end of February at the latest, House Republicans will have spent the vast majority of the first two months of 2014 on budgetary issues after vowing breathlessly to avoid them.

( Also on POLITICO: House GOP divided on debt ceiling)

That Republicans are considering this smattering of disparate policy provisions shows how big of a jam they are in. There’s little time left. After this week, the House is in session for just seven days before the nation runs headlong into the debt ceiling. Top Republican leadership aides say that gives them plenty of time to figure out a plan. The Senate, of course, has to pass the legislation as well, and Democrats in charge there say they will accept nothing but a clean debt-limit bill — one that includes no extraneous policies. To give a sense of the wide range of issues under consideration: Republicans are also discussing the possibility of attaching various reforms to congressional budgeting to the debt limit.

This week has been trying for House Republicans and neatly describes how difficult it is for them to pass tricky legislation in a still-divided conference. The GOP leadership floated to its members several legislative add-ons to the debt ceiling — including construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and changes to Obamacare — but a canvassing of the rank and file showed that these proposals would’ve fallen several dozen votes shy of passage.

Now, top Republicans say that whatever debt limit passes the House will almost certainly need Democratic votes. At some point, GOP leadership might reach out to Democrats to talk to them about what they would be able to accept, according to several sources involved in the process. That has not happened yet.

The problems Republicans face here are of their own making. In 2011, Boehner set the standard for using the debt ceiling to lower the deficit. Now, conservatives expect it.

Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said in an interview he would like to see structural changes to mandatory spending in exchange for raising the debt limit. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) suggested $1 in spending cuts for every $2 in increased borrowing authority. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) said “we have to get something for that vote.”

In fact, Republican leadership is trying to give Hartzler what she wants — at least temporarily. Nearly every senior lawmaker and aide in and around leadership knows that they will eventually have to pass a clean debt limit — or a bill with a token concession from Democrats. And that’s why people like Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) would rather Boehner pass a clean debt limit and give up the high-stakes theater.

“The problem is that I don’t want a ruse. I don’t want us to just claim we are fighting for something and then capitulate in the end,” Labrador said at a media availability Tuesday. “I’m just being realistic … if we’re not going to fight for those things, then let’s be honest with the American people and let them know that [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid and the president will not negotiate. We’re not willing to put the full faith and credit of the United States in jeopardy.”

John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett contributed to this report.