House GOP says it will raise debt ceiling by mid-October

House Republicans will raise the nation’s debt limit before a mid-October deadline but demand major fiscal concessions in exchange, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Friday. 

In a memo to GOP lawmakers, Cantor said Republicans would demand “fiscal reforms and pro-growth policies” that would put the nation on a path to balance the budget in 10 years. 

He went on to argue that over the last three decades, previous debt-limit hikes were accompanied by major spending and regulatory reforms, such as the 2011 Budget Control Act that introduced automatic spending cuts known as sequestration. 

“I expect that model to play out once again,” Cantor said, referring to trade-offs for raising the borrowing limit.

“While we do not know the price date of when that authority will lapse, the House will act to prevent a default on our obligations before that point,” he said.

{mosads}Cantor did not detail any specific House GOP demands, but Republican leaders are discussing a number of policy objectives that could be tied to a borrowing hike. 

The memo separately discusses the House Republican plan to systematically dismantle ObamaCare, but it makes no mention of whether it could be tied to the debt limit. Delaying some of its key provisions have been discussed, according to aides.

Many conservative Republicans are pushing their party to demand major concessions during the debate over funding the government beyond Sept. 30, including ObamaCare delays. But Cantor indicated in the memo that simply passing a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) that continues funding at sequester levels would constitute a win of sorts.

“In signing a CR at sequester levels, the president would be endorsing a level of spending that wipes away all the increases he and congressional Democrats made while they were in charge and returns us to a pre-2008 level of discretionary spending,” he said.

The memo also notes that the congressional investigation into the IRS’s improper targeting of certain groups, including Tea Party groups, would remain an oversight priority in the coming months. The memo makes no mention of tax reform, even as House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) continues working toward a comprehensive overhaul.