The House suspends the debt limit: Are Republicans in the driver's seat?

The battle over the budget deficit now moves to more favorable turf for the GOP

House Speaker John Boehner and his fellow Republicans have given the Treasury permission to effectively ignore the debt ceiling until May 18.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The House on Wednesday voted 285-144 to pass a bill that would suspend the nation's debt limit until May 18, completing the GOP's retreat from its hard-line stance that any authorization for new borrowing be accompanied by dollar-for-dollar spending cuts. The House technically did not raise the debt ceiling; instead, the bill authorizes the Treasury to effectively ignore it, a semantic maneuver that eased concern among rank-and-file Republicans who could have faced conservative anger for raising the limit without concessions from President Obama.

Included in the legislation is a provision that would require one of the chambers of Congress to pass a budget by April 15. If lawmakers fail to produce a budget, their salaries will be withheld.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.