REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

President Barack Obama talking about the debt ceiling crisis on Sunday.

WASHINGTON — Congress will take up early this week a debt limit increase and deficit reduction plan hatched by President Obama and congressional leaders Sunday to end a stalemate that has consumed Washington all summer.

To pass the $2.4 trillion debt limit increase, party leaders will need to rally support for a plan that fails to meet important standards for many members, Republicans and Democrats alike, including some in the Minnesota delegation.

The deal raises the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion in two installments, ensuring Congress won’t have to debate the issue again before the 2012 elections. The plan reduces the deficit by $1.2 trillion and establishes a bipartisan committee to find an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. It establishes domestic spending caps and a procedure that automatically cuts spending if those caps are exceeded.

Noticeably missing from the deal: new revenues and a balanced budget amendment, two issues vitally important to each party on Capitol Hill.

Democrats, from Obama on down, had called for a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction by relying on spending cuts and new taxes. But Republican resistance made new revenue nearly impossible to pass.

Meanwhile, Speaker John Boehner had included a balanced budget amendment in his deficit reduction plan in order to get the right wing of the Republican party to sign on — and even then, 22 of them voted against his plan. Obama threatened to veto any debt limit plan contingent on a balanced budget amendment and Democrats have resisted sending the amendment to the states for ratification, saying it ties the hands of the government and that it’s possible to balance the budget without a constitutional requirement.

Boehner introduced the compromise plan to House Republicans in a conference call Sunday night and both parties will hold conference meetings on the issue Monday. Party leaders (including Vice President Joe Biden, who will meet with Democrats) will need to rally support for the deal before it goes to the floor.

But hardliners from both parties are expected to resist the bill.

Michele Bachmann, who has always been a no on a debt limit increase, has already said she will vote against it, as have other conservatives who opposed the Boehner bill. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus with Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, has ripped the plan (CPC had a press conference scheduled for this morning, but postponed it), indicating liberal Democrats may break with their president to opposing the all-cuts deal.

So the plan (which must pass before Tuesday night’s deadline) will need support from moderates or members willing to support a plan that might run counter to their ideology.

The first Minnesotan to issue a statement on the plan was John Kline, who has earlier backed both Boehner’s bill and the Republicans' ideal Cut, Cap and Balance legislation two weeks ago. In a statement, his spokesman said: “Kline is still reviewing the plan and wants to ensure this or any agreement would fundamentally change the way Washington spends taxpayer money.”

Speaking to WCCO on Sunday before the details of the compromise were introduced, Republican Erik Paulsen, a “reluctant yes” on the Boehner plan, said he was looking for a “meaningful, long term plan, there are no accounting gimmicks, no accounting shifts and the empty promises that we see as a part of past deals are not in place.”

How Minnesota’s last House Republican, Chip Cravaack, will vote is unknown. Cravaack supported Cut, Cap and Balance but didn’t vote for the Boehner bill, saying Friday that he was looking for a larger deficit reduction plan than Boehner’s. A spokesman said that as of this morning, Cravaack had not decided how to vote on the compromise.

Both Minnesota senators, Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, said over the weekend that they were hoping to vote quickly on a compromise plan. Franken indicated he’d be willing to support an all-cuts plan like one introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last week.

“I don’t understand why Republicans couldn’t go for it,” he said Saturday before leadership began negotiating a final deal. “If feels like [the Democrats] have been doing all the compromising.”

Update, 10:55 a.m.: Amy Klobuchar just came out in support of the plan, saying in a statement, "While it is certainly not a perfect plan, the time has come to break through the partisan stalemate and pass a solution that provides certainty so we can move our country forward.”

Update, 2:20 p.m.: Republican John Kline is a yes vote on the debt limit agreement.

"This product is frankly much better than I was afraid it would be," he said in an interview. "There is not a single person in either party who says this is perfect. In balance, I’m going to be supporting it."

Kline did say he was nervous about potential cuts to defense spending, a category of spending that could be cut if a joint committee of lawmakers does not find $1.5 trillion in new savings by the fall.

That's a concern shared by Chip Cravaack, who said has not decided how he will vote yet.

"I have really big concerns about potential cuts to our military," he said after greeting constituents in Statuary Hall. "We’re engaged in Iraq, Afghanistan and now the president has us engaged in Libya. This is not the time to pull the rug out from under our troops."

Cravaack also said he was concerned about potential cuts to Medicare, another potential target for less spending should the joint committee not find the needed cuts.

Meanwhile, Democrat Keith Ellison tells Minnesota Public Radio he is "disinclined" to vote for the debt deal. Democrat Tim Walz says he has not yet decided how he will vote.

Update, 3:55 p.m.: Keith Ellison, speaking with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, confirms he is voting no on the debt deal.

Sen. Al Franken, meanwhile, said he will vote for it.

"Defaulting would have grave economic consequences for my Minnesota constituents," he said in a statement. "The deal does protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. And it will erase some of the uncertainty confronting businesses and the markets."

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.