Still searching for votes, House GOP leaders on Monday evening urged rank and file Republicans to back a plan that would extend the nation's debt limit for just over a year, while also extending some spending cuts and altering a controversial change to future military retirement pay adjustments.
No matter the details, there were Republicans ready to vote against it, dead-set against any increase in the nation's borrowing limit - regardless of the other items included in the GOP plan.
The basic bullet points:
+ The debt limit would be extended until March 15, 2015, with no specific monetary figure set by the legislation
+ To help bring GOP lawmakers on board, the plan would extend for one year - into Fiscal Year 2024 - mandatory spending cuts under the sequester
+ The bill would tweak a plan that was part of last year's budget deal, which limited the yearly cost-of-living-adjustment for military retirement pay.
That final plan would not repeal the military retirement pay provision, which is the goal of a bill that could come up on the Senate floor later this week - instead, it keeps the provision in place, but applies it only to people who join the uniformed military services "on or after January 1, 2014."
In other words, it will apply to new members of the military, but not to those who have already served and retired, or who are currently serving in the U.S. armed forces.
A vote is expected on Wednesday in the House. It's not clear if the plan could undergo further changes, or how many Democrats might vote for it - since a number of GOP lawmakers are ready to vote 'No' on the debt limit measure.
To check out the details yourself, you can read the actual text of the debt limit bill.
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