18 GOP lawmakers may deny Boehner a vote

At least 18 House Republicans said they'd vote no to House Speaker John Boehner's debt plan after he demanded support even if they found the plan flawed. But after receiving a tongue-lashing -- including a statement from Boehner, R-Ohio, to "get your ass in line" -- many GOP lawmakers who earlier opposed the bill changed their mind, aides said. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, said he was still leaning against the Boehner plan but had "moved a little bit," The Wall Street Journal reported. Boehner's plan -- which would raise the debt limit $900 billion now, while cutting spending $917 billion over 10 years, and then raise the debt limit by as much as $1.6 trillion next year -- can lose as many as 23 Republican votes and still pass if no Democrats support the measure, the Journal said. Boehner could delay the vote if he concludes his plan won't pass the House. If the Boehner legislation survives a House vote, it was expected to move to the Senate, where it was expected to be amended. "It'll be altered if it gets over here," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters. Reid's $2.2 trillion deficit-reduction plan, which would raise the debt ceiling enough to cover federal obligations into 2013, faced challenges of its own, due to its claims of significant savings from winding down the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Republicans dismiss the inclusion of war savings as a budget gimmick, arguing the government had no intention of spending that money. Critics of the GOP have noted that other Republican proposals have also included savings on winding down the wars as spending cuts. Treasury Department officials warn the United States could begin defaulting on its obligations after Tuesday if Congress doesn't raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.