GOP leaders risk costly standoff over debt ceiling vote.
House Republican leaders plan to vote on their debt ceiling package as soon as Wednesday, but it is unclear whether they have the votes to pass it. Dissenters include conservatives seeking stricter work requirements for federal benefits, moderates opposed to cuts in green energy subsidies, and midwestern Republicans wary of reductions in ethanol subsidies. The group of objectors is sizable enough to kill the legislation given the Republicans’ slim House majority. The bill is dead-on-arrival in a Senate controlled by Democrats, but would serve as an important bargaining chip in the partisan fight over the size and scope of federal spending.