'It will not be an adult moment on the floor,' said Steny Hoyer. | AP photo Hoyer: Vote 'against' debt bill

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is advising Democratic colleagues to not support a Republican bill that would raise the federal debt limit without accompanying spending cuts.

The Maryland Democrat called the Tuesday evening vote on a so-called “clean” hike of the debt limit a “political charade” since Republicans have no intention of actually letting the bill pass the House.


“It will not be an adult moment on the floor of the House of Representatives,” Hoyer told reporters Tuesday in a jab of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has repeatedly used that phrase in describing a debt ceiling hike.

It’s just the most recent move in a long-standing dance of political gamesmanship over the debt ceiling. In scheduling the vote Tuesday evening, Republicans said they were giving Democrats the opportunity to vote on the debt ceiling in a way they prefer — without deep cuts to spending. But now Democrats are saying that the vote will likely get little support.

Democrats can also avoid a straight “no” vote by voting “present.”

But in reality, it means very little. Even with every Democrat voting “yes,” the bill would fail, as all Republicans are expected to vote against the legislation, which needs a two-thirds majority for passage.

Furthermore, Republicans and Democrats are negotiating with their Senate counterparts and the White House over a deficit reduction package which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they’re hopeful could produce $1 trillion in savings.

Hoyer said he did not “intend to advise to that my members subject themselves to a political 30 second ad.” If Republicans joined with Democrats to find a solution to the debt ceiling debate, he would “be prepared to urge at least half of my members to support the extension of the debt limit, including myself.”

The GOP, Hoyer said, would need to provide an equal or greater number of votes.

It’s an attempt by Hoyer to keep his party together, and shield Democrats from voting for a bill that could paint them as fiscally irresponsible. But “no” votes also open Democrats up to calls of hypocrisy from the right, as 114 lawmakers joined with Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) in calling for a clean hike of the nation’s statutory borrowing capability.