 A controversy arose in July 2011 over the raising of the federal debt limit, which was needed to prevent a default by the United States government. Republicans in Congress demanded spending cuts in the budgets for 2012 and subsequent years in return for raising the debt limit. On July 19, 2011, the Republican-led House passed a bill, the Cut, Cap and Balance Act, by a margin of 234 – 190 which would require $ 111 billion in cuts in 2012 spending levels, exempting defense, Medicare, and Social Security from these cuts, and would limit subsequent federal spending to about 20 % of the gross national product as compared to the current 24 %. It did not immediately increase the debt limit, but would have required Congress to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution before increasing the debt limit. The bill was tabled by a vote of 51 – 46 in the Senate on July 22, and thus defeated. An alternate plan proposed by the bipartisan Gang of Six senators and favored by the Obama administration would contain about $ 3.7 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, including both new revenue and large spending cuts, including in entitlement healthcare and defense, failed to gain traction.
