Obama: US nears debt limit, needs 1.2 billion dollars

Jan 13, 2012, 0:51 GMT

Washington - US President Barack Obama Thursday formally asked the US Congress for another 1.2 trillion dollars in borrowing authority for the federal government.

The request was part of a three-step-increase agreed upon between the White House and Congress in August, when Republican refusal to raise the debt ceiling brought the government to the brink of default.

The notification starts a 15-day clock running for Congress to respond. Under the agreement, Congress can only disapprove the request in a joint resolution - an action that could be vetoed by Obama.

A rejection is unlikely since Democrats still control the Senate.

If Congress does not pass a joint resolution rejecting Obama's request, the debt limit will by default rise by the amount requested, to a record 16.4 trillion dollars.

In his letter to Congress, Obama certified 'that the debt subject to limit is within (100 billion dollars) of the limit.'

The House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans, has slated its vote for Wednesday.

The high debt level is a key issue for the presidential elections. Republicans have blocked Obama and the Democrats' proposals to increase taxes on the country's most wealthy and cut spending. Instead, Republicans want drastic cutbacks in spending. dpa pr Author: Pat Reber

The law calls for Obama to notify Congress when the debt came within $100 billion of the current $15.194 trillion limit.

While the threshold was reached Dec. 30, when the president was in Hawaii and Congress was on holiday break, Obama agreed to a request from congressional leaders to delay the notification request, ensuring the deadline for congressional action didn't lapse before lawmakers returned to Washington.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner used the request to criticize Obama on the budget and the deficit. Budget Battles

'This request is another reminder that the president has consistently punted on the tough choices needed to rein in the deficit and protect important programs for American seniors from going bankrupt,' Brendan Buck said in an e-mail.

The deficit in fiscal 2011 was $1.3 trillion and the White House budget office in September forecast it will be $956 billion in the current fiscal year.

Lawmakers rejected a proposal Obama made in September to trim the nation's long-term deficit by $3 trillion beyond the $1 trillion that was agreed to as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling. Administration officials said yesterday that Obama plans to reprise his deficit-reduction ideas as part of his 2013 budget.

They include raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, cuts in Medicare and reductions in so-called mandatory programs such as farm subsidies. Accounting Maneuvers

The debt ceiling increase is to meet commitments already made by the government. The Treasury Department has been relying on accounting maneuvers, similar to the ones employed during the year's earlier dispute to ensure that the previous $15.194 trillion limit wasn't breached.

Since the budget law was approved, the debt limit has been raised twice, by a total of $900 billion. Under the new request, the limit would rise to $16.394 trillion, which the Treasury Department estimates will fund the government until late 2012.

In the last certification vote, the Republican-controlled House passed a resolution of disapproval, while the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority, didn't.