Ryan: GOP to Offer Bill 'Suspending' Borrowing, Not Raising Debt Ceiling

House Republicans will consider a measure next week that would suspend the U.S. borrowing limit instead of raising it by a specific amount, according to Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Republican leaders will seek to attach several provisions to the measure that would reduce the federal budget deficit in the long run, Ryan said.

The measure will look “at debt over the long term, and that is what matters the most,” Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, told reporters in Washington today.

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President Barack Obama has called for a debt-limit increase without conditions, and said he won’t negotiate on the issue.

Ryan highlighted means testing for entitlement programs such as Medicare as one of the changes that Republicans are considering as additions to the debt-limit bill.

“Some things like means testing may not save you a lot upfront but saves you a lot of money in the long run and does the most to help reduce the debt than, say, cutting discretionary spending,” Ryan, his party’s 2012 vice presidential candidate, said.

The measure won’t specify by how much the cap will be increased, rather it will allow the government to borrow for a specified amount of time, probably for a year, according to Representative Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican.

Republicans also plan to attach to the measure a one-year delay of Obama’s health-care law, instructions for revamping the federal tax code, an authorization for constructing the Keystone XL pipeline, and reductions in government regulations.

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