Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are meeting Friday to once again revise their plan to raise the U.S. borrowing limit and cut government spending, just four days before the government faces a possible default on its financial obligations.
Republican leaders were forced to delay on a vote Thursday night on a plan crafted by House Speaker John Boehner that would raise the country’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit in exchange for more than $900 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. Boehner did not have enough Republican votes to pass the measure, and Democratic leaders said they were unanimously opposed to it.
Some Republicans, including those aligned with the party’s ultra-conservative Tea Party faction, opposed Boehner’s plan because it did not cut as much government spending as opponents wanted.
If the debt limit is not increased by Tuesday, the U.S. could run out of money to pay all its debts, which would push the government into its first-ever default.