House budget chief wants concessions over US debt - Reuters

Wed Jan 5, 2011 10:20am EST

* New Republican budget chief demands concessions on debt

* Ryan says $100 billion target for cuts "compromised"

* Rand Paul says Senate may want balanced budget deal (Adds details, quotes and background)

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The incoming Republican budget chief in the U.S. House of Representatives said he will demand spending concessions from the Obama administration in exchange for any rise in the national debt ceiling.

Paul Ryan, who takes over as chairman of the House Budget Committee as the new Congress convenes on Wednesday, said Republicans could seek to impose caps and other spending limits to control the impact of any rise in the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit.

"I'm only interested in raising the debt ceiling if we get concessions on spending, on real controls to get our fiscal situation turned around and headed in the right direction," Ryan said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.

"I'm not interested in raising the debt ceiling on the hope that a promise will be fulfilled at a later time."

John Boehner, the incoming Republican speaker of the House, warned on Wednesday that Congress will have to make "tough decisions" about the economy and mounting federal debt. [ID:nN05262759]

Pledges to cut spending and taxes while curbing the $1.3 trillion federal deficit helped Republicans capture control of the House and reduce the Democrats' majority in the Senate in the Nov. 2 congressional elections.

Ryan denied Republicans would renege on a campaign promise to cut federal spending for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2010.

But a House Republican aide said lawmakers from his party will likely propose spending cuts in the coming weeks that will be less than half of the widely cited $100 billion.

The proposed cuts, which would likely affect domestic spending programs between March and October, could be "substantially less" than $50 billion, the aide said.

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