Republicans delay US debt plan vote

House Speaker John Boehner had been trying to line up the 216 votes the Republican debt bill would need to pass through.

Congress must raise the US debt limit by a deadline of next Tuesday.

The US Treasury has warned the government will run out of money to pay all its bills unless its $14.3tn (£8.7tn) borrowing limit is increased by next Tuesday.

But few if any Democrats are expected to support the measure, which faces near-certain defeat in the Democratic-run Senate.

Partisan deadlock between Republicans and Democrats over how best to reduce the US deficit, and over what period, has blocked an agreement so far to allow the raising of the $14.3tn debt ceiling.

Mr Boehner’s plan would trim $917bn from the US budget deficit over 10 years and raise the debt limit by up to $900bn.

President Barack Obama supports another plan by Senate Democrat Harry Reid, which would cut $2.2tn from deficits, and raise the debt ceiling by $2.7tn.

Democrats want to shield Medicare and Medicaid by taxing wealthier Americans to generate more revenue.

But that is thought unlikely in its current form to pass the Republican-controlled House.

The Boehner and Reid plans overlap in key ways – trimming spending over 10 years, shunning President Obama’s call for tax increases on the wealthy and creating special lawmaker committees to craft future cuts.

But Mr Boehner’s approach would force another debt-limit showdown during next year’s presidential campaign, something Mr Obama has fiercely opposed.

Votes to raise the US debt ceiling have usually been a matter of routine in Congress, but this year Republicans have refused to agree without a reduction in spending.