WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are giving the tea party a chance to do things its way in the latest chapter in the saga over increasing the government's borrowing limit and avoiding a first-ever default.
The House will vote on a "cut, cap and balance" plan to let the government borrow another $2.4 trillion — but only after big and immediate spending cuts and adoption by Congress of a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.
The plan is doomed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House has promised a veto.
After the cut, cap and balance measure stalls, Senate leaders appear likely to try to advance a bipartisan plan to get around the debt-limit crisis by giving President Barack Obama sweeping powers to order an increase in the borrowing cap.