Obama delays seeking debt-ceiling increase

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The Obama administration delayed asking Congress to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion after congressional leaders objected to the time frame.

The White House said the delay won't affect the nation's creditworthiness, The Washington Post reported.

Under the request the administration originally planned to submit Friday, Congress would have had 15 days to disapprove the request or else the debt ceiling automatically would have been raised from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion.

Congressional leaders, however, objected to the timeline, saying it would have been difficult for lawmakers to vote on the measure. The House doesn't return until Jan. 17 and the Senate is gone until Jan. 23.

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama will delay his request by a few days.

The Treasury Department said Friday it expects the United States to come within $100 billion of its debt limit; however, an administration official said accounting measures would keep the nation solvent until the debt limit is increased.