By Kelsey Snell, THE WASHINGTON POST
Speaker John Boehner is facing growing pressure to start work this week on a bill to increase the federal borrowing limit as the debt ceiling deadline fast approaches amid the continuing uncertainty over who will succeed the Ohio Republican at the end of the month.
The Treasury Department estimates that the debt limit will need to be raised by Nov. 3 in order to avoid a default that could rock financial markets and the economy. In order to get a bill through Congress before that deadline, congressional aides and lobbyists said Monday that they expect the House will pass an increase in the debt limit by the end of the week, with the help of Democratic votes, so it can then be cleared by the Senate next week before the deadline.