House GOP to move its own proposal to end shutdown, lift debt ceiling

Story by NBC News
Written by Michael O'Brien

As the Senate puts the finishing touches on a bipartisan plan to raise the debt ceiling and reopen the government, House Republicans will craft their own counter-proposal to mollify conservatives within the GOP.

House Republicans will vote as early as Tuesday on their own legislation to avert a default on the national debt and end a two-week-old closure of the federal government, tailored in a way to win over conservatives who have expressed skepticism toward an emerging Senate deal.

The decision by the House GOP follows past instances where conservatives have balked at Senate legislation to end some sort of fiscal standoff as a deadline rapidly approaches. In almost every instance, the House's efforts have fallen flat with Democrats, and the chamber eventually accedes to the Senate plan.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told fellow Republicans the House would take up work on the alternative on Tuesday.

According to Republican sources, the House bill would extend government spending through Jan. 15 and the debt limit until Feb. 7 -- about the same length of time as the Senate's proposal.

The House bill would also delay the medical device tax in Obamacare for two years and strip members of Congress (not staffers) of subsidies to purchase insurance under the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, among other provisions.

The House Republican plan is a remarkable concession in its own regard, even though it's unlikely to win over Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama. House Republicans had initially insisted on defunding or delaying Obamacare as a condition of funding the government for only a few months, a hard-line stance which contributed to the shutdown in the first place. Moreover, the measures attached to the new House proposal represent a scaled-back list of demands for raising the debt limit.

NBC News’ Luke Russert and Frank Thorp contributed reporting.