Democrat Janice Hahn sworn in to Congress
Bachmann: Migraines won't impede White House bid

House approves GOP debt plan opposed by Obama

Updated

By Alan Gomez and Catalina Camia

Updated at 8:22 p.m. ET

As expected, the GOP-led House has approved the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan for reducing the debt on a mostly party-line vote of 234-190.

Updated at 1:37 p.m. ET

The Republican-led House is expected to easily pass a plan today to cut federal spending and take steps to balance the federal budget, aimed at averting a default on the government's financial obligations.

But the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan won't go any further in a Democrat-controlled Senate and with a veto threat from President Obama.

"This unfortunate veto threat should make clear that the issue is not congressional inaction, but rather the president's unwillingness to cut spending and restrain the future growth of our government," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement before today's vote.

BLOG:  Obama's words

Obama said this afternoon at the White House he understands why Boehner and Republicans have scheduled a vote, but reiterated that he believes the GOP proposal is "not a plan that could pass both chambers" and "not a plan I would sign."

The president sounded more hopeful about a plan put forward by a bipartisan group of senators to cut about $4 trillion in spending over the next 10 years.

Obama has been meeting with congressional leaders to come up with a plan to raise the nation's debt limit while also reducing the deficit with massive spending cuts. Republicans have balked at tax increases to generate new revenue for the budget. The government could default on its obligations if the nation's $14.3 trillion in borrowing authority is not raised by Aug. 2.

White House press secretary Jay Carney described the GOP plan as "duck, dodge and dismantle" and insisted that it would be vetoed if it manages to clear both chambers of Congress.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a proponent of the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan wrote in an op-ed for USA TODAY that the proposal "reins in spending immediately and permanently, making this the last debt limit increase we may ever need."

The House measure would raise the nation's debt limit. In exchange, the plan calls for $111 billion in spending cuts next year and places hard caps on spending for the next decade. It also includes an amendment to the Constitution to balance the budget, which would need to be approved by 38 states.

PREVIOUS
Democrat Janice Hahn sworn in to Congress
NEXT
Bachmann: Migraines won't impede White House bid
To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.