Democrats also insist that a broad agreement on spending cuts must address the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. Congress will need to act as early as mid-February to prevent the U.S. from defaulting, according to the Congressional Budget Office. After political bickering stalled negotiations over raising the debt limit last year, Standard & Poor’s lowered the U.S.’s credit rating to AA+ from AAA on Aug. 5, 2011.
Republicans have rejected Obama’s debt limit proposal, which would allow the president to request increases and effectively require a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate to prevent it.
Instead, House Republicans have reiterated their support for the “Boehner rule,” which requires spending cuts equal to the size of each debt limit increase.