The US House of Representatives Saturday rejected a Democratic proposal to raise the nation's debt ceiling as the world's largest economy faces the prospect of defaulting on its debt next week. The 246-173 vote played out in a high stakes duel between Republicans and Democrats over financing the US government.
It was the latest in a series of votes that began Friday evening in the House and Senate. Congress through the decades has routinely raised the debt ceiling so the Treasury can pay off interest and principle to bond holders, pensions, medical benefits, military pay and other obligations.
But an extreme group of about 80 right-wing Republicans, the Tea Party, elected to the House in November as a backlash against US President Barack Obama, has held the process hostage to their demands. Minority leader in the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, took House Speaker John Boehner to task Saturday for his failure to pursue a bipartisan deal. Instead, he spent three days making ever more restrictive amendments to his own proposal to get the support of the Tea Party.