U.S. House delays showdown over debt ceiling; Oklahoma's delegation splits

“Kicking the can down the road for three more months is not a solution,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.

Freshmen Reps. Jim Bridenstine, R-Tulsa, and Markwayne Mullin, R-Westville, voted against the bill.

Bridenstine said “suspension of the debt ceiling is more alarming than an increase” and could allow the Obama administration to issue billions of dollars of additional debt.

Moreover, he said, the U.S. Constitution prohibits lawmakers from varying congressional compensation during their current terms. Delaying pay is a form of varying it, he said.

And he said the requirement that the Senate pass a budget didn't mean it would be a fiscally responsible budget.

But Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, praised the bill for forcing the Senate to “set forth a plan to help tackle our nation's debt disaster.”

Even with a delay in the debt ceiling debate, Congress is facing two other important deadlines: In early March, automatic budget cuts — established in the last debt ceiling fight in 2011 — are set to go into effect that will hit the Defense Department harder than other areas of government; and in late March, funding for most government departments and agencies will expire.