On the Hill

Will Failed Debt Deal Doom Boehner?

House speaker could face rebellion in his caucus.

Congressional leaders have promised to meet with the White House every day before time runs out on the debt next week—and the Republican leadership insists it is working to strike a deal. “Nobody is talking about not raising the debt ceiling,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News Sunday. Still, any deal will be less ambitious than the one House Speaker John Boehner backed away from Saturday, which sought to rewrite the tax code and include Medicare and Social Security cuts. It remains to be seen now how badly Boehner damaged his standing with his anti-tax caucus. “It’s crazy to think the speaker was considering a trillion [dollars] in tax increases. After all, we’re the anti-tax party,” a veteran Republican lawmaker tells Politico. “[House Majority Leader Eric] Cantor brought him, the economy and our party back from the abyss. Cantor is strengthened, clearly. And it’s another example of the speaker almost slipping beyond the will of the GOP conference.”