Eric Cantor unveiled the plan during a presentation in a closed-door meeting. House GOP to push debt-limit boost

House Republicans will propose increasing the debt limit for one year, while delaying Obamacare for the same amount of time.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) unveiled the plan during a presentation in a closed-door meeting of House Republicans Wednesday morning. The debt ceiling legislation, which House Republicans are beginning to craft, will also include tax reform instructions, language to urge the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and other health care and non-health care budgetary reforms.


The Treasury Department says the debt ceiling needs to be lifted within the next month, and House Republicans see that as the prime vehicle to dig in for a legislative battle against Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama over Obamacare and entitlement reform. Obama and Senate Democratic leaders have repeatedly said they will not negotiate over the debt ceiling.

The other piece of must-pass legislation is the continuing resolution or CR to fund the federal government, which must be enacted before Oct. 1 to avoid a shutdown.

( Also on POLITICO: Dems vow support for debt limit bill)

House Republicans are expediting the consideration of the CR. The House Rules Committee will consider it Wednesday evening, which means it could hit the floor as early as Thursday. Leadership says a Friday vote is still the plan.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will attempt this week to pass a funding bill to keep the government open until Dec. 15 at a$986 billion level.

The House GOP bill will also include language to choke off funding for the Affordable Care Act. That provision is almost certain to be stripped out by the Democratic majority in the Senate. The White House will issue a veto threat on the continuing resolution when it is filed in the House, according to Democratic sources.

Boehner, speaking to the closed meeting of House Republicans, implored Republicans to support his leadership team by passing this government funding bill. Last week, a group of a few dozen Republican lawmakers rejected leadership’s government funding plan, forcing them to recalibrate.

“On every major issue we’ve faced for the past two and a half years, the math has been the same,” Boehner said, according to a source in the room. “House Republicans either find a way together to get to 218, or the Democrats who run the rest of Washington essentially get everything they want.”

GOP leadership’s goal is to force Senate conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to hold up any government funding bill that doesn’t defund Obamacare. Senior House Republican aides and lawmakers are sick of Senate conservatives blaming the House for funding the law.

( Also on POLITICO: House GOP CR to fund — and defund)

“We’re going to put Obamacare defunding directly into the CR,” Boehner told his GOP colleagues. “And then we’re going to send it over to the Senate, so our conservative allies over there can continue the fight. That’s where the fight is.”

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Boehner took direct aim at Senate Republicans, saying: “The fight over here has been won. The House has voted over 40 times to change Obamacare, to repeal it. It’s time for the Senate to have this fight.”

Boehner tried to downplay concerns about whether the House GOP plan could provoke a government shutdown — or that he is a strong enough leader to ensure that won’t happen.

“The biggest part of any leadership job is to listen,” Boehner told reporters. “We have listened our colleagues over the course of the last week. We have a plan that they’re happy with. We’re going forward.”

Boehner added: “There should be no conversation about shutting the government down. That’s not the goal here. Our goal here is to cut spending and to protect the American people from Obamacare. It’s as simple as that. There’s no interest in our part in shutting the government down.”

McCarthy is confident that GOP leaders can find the votes to pass the CR, despite private doubts about the wisdom of such a strategy from some Republicans.

“We haven’t whipped anything yet, but I would tell you the emotion coming out of the conference is very united,” McCarthy said.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said he expects many of the members of his committee will vote for the CR, and said it will pass the House.

“The goal here is not to shut the government down, the goal is to keep the government operating,” Rogers said. “But we need to repeal Obamacare.”