WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Thursday will vote on legislation that would raise the debt limit from its current $12.4 trillion level, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday.
The legislation, which passed the Senate last week, would raise the government's borrowing authority to $14.3 trillion and require Congress to find ways to pay for most new spending programs.
The Treasury Department is expected within weeks to exceed the current limit for borrowing set in December.
Failure to raise the limit would roil financial markets, but lawmakers are never eager to sign off on a measure that allows the government to dig itself deeper into debt.
The national debt more than doubled over the past decade as Republican President George W. Bush cut taxes while pursuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and setting up an expensive prescription-drug benefit.
The debt level has also been driven up by the worst recession since the 1930s and Democratic efforts to lessen its impact. (Reporting by Donna Smith and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
