It’s looking like Congressional Republicans may use the debt limit as a bargaining chip in the fight over Obamacare.
Roll Call says GOP leadership is discussing the possibility of using the debt limit to extract concessions from the White House, including delays in implementing Obamacare.
The GOP Conference is largely divided on whether threatening a government shutdown is politically advisable given that the Senate and the White House would certainly snub any serious effort to unravel the Democrats’ signature health care legislation.
It’s also highly unlikely Democrats would be amenable to discussing dismantling Obamacare in connection with raising the debt ceiling later this fall when the government is set to default, as the Obama administration has said repeatedly that it will not negotiate on the full faith and credit of the United States.
A failure to raise the debt ceiling would also provoke a partial government shutdown, as the government would be unable to pay all of its bills. Obama warned in 2011 that Social Security and other checks could be delayed.
