The U.S. president's administration leaves open the possibility to consider short-term rise in the nation's debt limit; however, the top priority is to increase the borrowing limit for the long term,
Politico said citing Gene B. Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council. Obama economic advisor (steps aside in January 2014) highlighted that this is within the Congress jurisdiction to decide on the term and frequency of raising debt limit. “It is the responsibility of Congress to decide how long and how often they want to vote on doing that,” he said.
Politico also noted that the presidential administration’s position on this issue can help to buy time (two or three weeks) in case the White House and opposition do not reach a consensus on the long-term solution. The Commerce Department warns they will run out of money by October 17.
Obama has repeatedly accused Republicans of threatening to cause a recession. President said he will not negotiate when the U.S. creditworthiness is at stake.
Meanwhile, the opposition accuses Obama of refusing to negotiate budget. They lobby for delaying costly ObamaCare and want to reduce budget deficit. The confrontation of the White House with opposition has resulted in partial shutdown of the federal government. Due to the disagreements between Republicans and Democrats, who control different branches of government, Congress fails to pass a budget for fiscal 2014.