WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — House Republican leaders yesterday said they would seek to pass a three-month extension of federal borrowing authority next week to buy time — on pain of losing their own paychecks — for the Democratic-controlled Senate to pass a budget plan that shrinks budget deficits.
The plan, hatched at a House Republican retreat, marks a new strategy from the party to break a budget deadlock by forcing the Senate to act first.
The Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise thecurrent $16.4 trillion limit on US debt sometime between mid-February and early March.
The Senate has not passed a formal budget resolution in nearly four years, while the House has passed budgets that have died in the Senate.
Under the planned legislation, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said lawmakers’ pay would be withheld if the Senate or the House fail to pass a budget by April 15.
“If the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job,” Cantor said.