A plan to shrink the federal deficit by up to $3tn is said to be offered by super-committee Democrats behind closed doors

Democrats on the Congressional super-committee tasked with making urgent cuts to the US government deficit are said to have offered a multi-trillion dollar reduction using a mix of higher revenues and spending cuts.

Reuters reports that in a closed door session on Tuesday, several Democratic members of the panel – which must find at least $1.2tn in savings by the deadline of 23 November – pushed a plan designed to slice $2.5tn to $3tn from the federal budget.

Led by Montana Senator Max Baucus, the plan is said to include $200bn or more in economic stimulus funded by a windfall from lower interest payments on the shrinking government debt.

The package also controversially claims around $400bn in savings in Medicare spending, through cuts in benefits and payments to healthcare providers.



According to the National Journal, Republican senators and super-committee members Jon Kyl and Rob Portman had heated exchanges with their Democratic counterparts over the proposal, with staff asked to leave the room while the meeting continued in private.

The group of 12 is under huge pressure to come up with a bi-partisan deficit reduction package by the Thanksgiving holidays, under the terms of the deal agreed between the White House and Congress in August to increase the debt ceiling.

The Democratic offer is the first to emerge from the marathon series of meetings being held by the 12-person joint select committee – and it appears unlikely to find favour with the Republican members, who have repeatedly warned that they will not support tax or revenue revisions other than through economic growth.

Instead the eye-catching Democratic proposals are another move in the high-stakes chess game being played out, as the Democrats and Republicans try to avoid blame for any failure to meet the deadline and triggering the automatic $1.2tn cuts in the August deal, including in defence spending.

While Republicans are refusing to consider higher taxes or revenues, the Democrats have ruled out making cuts in welfare spending such as Medicare until the Republicans are prepared to compromise.