WASHINGTON — A go-it-alone House Republican plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling teetered on the edge of failure late Tuesday as leaders struggled to rally reluctant members and to make last-minute changes to curry conservative support.
Leaders postponed a planned vote todayin the House, an indication of the problems besetting the effort. Even if the plan passes later this week, it would face an uncertain fate in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and White House officials said they would recommend President Barack Obama veto it.
The uphill task, led by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, grew more difficult when an independent analysis posed a new challenge to the figures used in the plan, saying its projected savings would be less than initially estimated.
Boehner’s challenge arrived at a pivotal moment for both the Republican Party and the country, after months of political deadlock. Just days remain before the federal government hits the $14.3 trillion limit on how much it can borrow and could be unable to pay all of its bills and obligations.
In proposing their own plan, House Republicans aimed to demonstrate that they could lead the nation away from the brink of economic disaster. But on Tuesday, they largely showed off the deep divisions that have dogged the GOP and Boehner’s leadership all year.
GOP leaders pushed into overdrive to try to rescue the measure, using arguments, empathy, sweeteners and even a tough-guy movie clip to rally support.
To push a plan through the House, Boehner must amass 217 votes. There are 240 Republicans in the House, and few, if any, Democrats are expected to support his plan. So Boehner can afford to lose no more than about 23 of his members — a difficult task given the opposition of many conservatives to any increase in the nation’s debt limit under any circumstances.
Boehner’s plan would require the president go to Congress twice over the next year for authority to raise the debt limit. A competing plan, pushed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would provide for a debt ceiling increase to last through 2012, as the White House prefers.
Boehner’s plan also would require that the House and Senate vote in the future on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
One by one Tuesday, reluctant rank-and-file House Republicans wrestled with their decisions and the divide in the party at large. Influential business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged lawmakers to vote for the plan, while pivotal conservative groups warned against it.
“When there is this type of pressure, I do what I was taught to do: I get on my knees and I ask for some understanding and some leadership,” said Rep. Jeff Landry, a freshman Republican from Louisiana who came to Washington without experience in elective office.
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