House Approves Debt Deal

By Gabrielle Pffaflin

UPDATE (7:30 pm) — By a vote of 269-161, the House of Representatives passed the debt limit plan agreed to by President Obama and congressional leaders from both parties. The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote that is expected to take place on Tuesday, just hours before the Treasury Department says it will lose the power to continue servicing the nation’s debt…

WASHINGTON — House GOP leaders touted the debt deal struck between them and the White House Monday afternoon.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) agreed that “the bill is not perfect,” but noted that the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the proposed bill cuts an estimated $2.1 trillion. over the next 10 years.

“It is a huge step in the right direction and change in the way this place works…this accomplishes 66% of the type of savings and discretionary savings we adocated for in our budget. We’ll take that as a win,” Cantor said during a briefing.

The bill, S. 365 originated as an education reform bill in 2002, but lawmakers amended it to include a budget outline, debt ceiling increase, and many of the provisions exhibited in an earlier bill presented by Boehner that narrowly passed the House, but died in the Senate over the weekend. It includes a supercommittee that will recommend where to cut another $1.5 trillion in the future. It also mandates a vote on a balanced budget amendment. The debt-ceiling increase takes effect upon passage, whether or not the balanced budget amendment passes as well.

Although President Obama and Boehner negotiated the bill together, many fellow members of Congress find the bill inadequate. Tea Party-elected lawmakers argue that passage of S. 365 equates to handing over a blank check to the President to keep spending. Many Democrats argue that it must include an end to the Bush tax-cuts for the wealthy, as well as other revenue increases.

Earlier, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated that it is up to the GOP to garner the necesary support to pass, before Democrats would act to support it. She, as well as her deputy, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), eventually voted in favor of the deal. With the August 2 deadline looming just hours away, there may not be enough time to change the bill without further endangering the Nation of default and further economic strife.

Republican Leadership retorted that Democrats must take initiative within their own party to support a bill that prevnts National default in a time of great economic strife.

Geoff Holtzman contributed to this report.