Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas announced that congressional Republicans will agree to raise the debt ceiling. While it is still not a sure bet that they have the votes to avoid a default, there have been a number of high-ranking members of the Republican caucus who have voiced similar sentiments, including Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
Cornyn's remarks were [also] a far cry in tone from his Jan. 4 Houston Chronicle op-ed, in which he wrote that a partial government shutdown may be necessary to "secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country." Cornyn declared, "The coming deadlines will be the next flashpoints in our ongoing fight to bring fiscal sanity to Washington."
