On January 23, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would suspend the limit on the nation’s borrowing authority for nearly four months – a move that would eliminate the threat of a government default and give lawmakers more time to address other looming budget deadlines. The 285 – 144 vote in favor of H.R. 325 passed the House with 86 Democrats supporting the measure and 33 Republicans opposing it.

Speaker of the House John Boehner enticed conservatives to vote for the bill by committing to balance the budget in 10 years. Such an aggressive debt reduction goal would require faster and steeper cuts to Medicare and Medicaid than have been contemplated so far, and would make replacing the Medicare physician pay formula that much more difficult.

The bill would suspend the debt limit through May 18, 2013, automatically increasing the current $16.4 trillion ceiling to accommodate additional debt accumulated before that date. Without action, the federal government is due to reach its borrowing ceiling as early as mid-February. The legislation also would tie congressional pay to passage of a budget plan by suspending salaries for Members of Congress if either the House or Senate fails to adopt a budget resolution by April 15. Were this provision to go into effect, lawmakers would not be paid until the end of the 113th Congress.

The Senate is expected to vote on the measure this week, which would clear the bill for the president’s signature. Even though the White House would prefer a long-term extension of borrowing authority, President Obama has stated that he would not oppose the legislation. Congress must confront two more budget deadlines: the automatic spending cuts or "sequestration," which is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2013 and the expected March 27 expiration of the current stop-gap spending law (P.L. 112-175).