GOP Promised White House They’ll Raise Debt Ceiling, Says Geithner

Although it’s widely acknowledged that raising the debt ceiling will be a tough political fight, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Sunday that GOP leaders have nevetheless assured the White House that Congress will make the move.

“They told the president that on Wednesday in the White House. And I sat there with them,” Geithner said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week. They said, ‘we recognize we have to do this.’ And ‘we’re not going to play around with it. Because we know that the risk would be catastrophic.’”

To date, Republican leaders have publicly, although sometimes begrudgingly, acknowledged the importance of the vote, but have also warned that it won’t find their party’s support without a commitment to significantly cut spending, a compromise the White House appears open to.

Although Geithner said that he was “absolutely” sure the ceiling will be raised, he noted that it’s dangerous to prolong it’s passage.

“If you take it too close to the edge, then people will start to wonder, really, what are we doing, what are we thinking,” Geithner said. “The world is watching now. And they want to know that Washington takes these things seriously, and is willing to get ahead of this problem.”