Representative Mac Thornberry, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said restoring the military benefits probably wouldn't be included in a final measure because the change would increase debt.

"I don't think that's going to happen," the Texas Republican said today at a Bloomberg Government breakfast in Washington. "Backing away from it now on a debt ceiling seems to me to be exactly the wrong thing to do."

Thornberry said lawmakers generally want to avoid "confrontation and drama."

'Enough Drama'

"I don't think anybody wants to provoke a crisis," he said. "We've had enough drama."

A suspension of the federal borrowing limit, enacted by Congress in October, is scheduled to expire tomorrow. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has urged lawmakers to act quickly to raise the cap, saying the government's ability to meet its obligations will run out before the end of this month.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats insist they won't negotiate over raising the debt limit. Republicans are just as adamant about getting some kind of concession. Still, they haven't ruled out a debt-ceiling increase without conditions as a last-ditch option to avoid default.

'Reasonable Alternative'

Idaho Republican Raul Labrador told reporters yesterday that Democrats would "reject even the most reasonable alternative" on the debt-ceiling increase. Because Republicans don't want a "cataclysmic fight," it makes sense to accept that and allow a clean borrowing-limit bill, he said.

Representative Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said members of his party are "willing to talk about any other legislative policy issue on its own merits."

"But Republicans don't get to enact their policy agenda in exchange for paying the country's bills on time," said Van Hollen of Maryland.

Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia said some fellow Democrats may resist any provision Republicans attach to the debt limit, even if it's something Democrats otherwise would support.

"Once you go down that road, given this crowd, it'll go somewhere you don't like," Connolly said in an interview. "All of the signals are that we're not going to do that."

'Telling Moment'

Several House Republicans said yesterday they aren't giving up on adding some type of provision to a debt-limit increase. The lawmakers spoke at an event in Washington sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, which supports limited government.

"This is a telling moment where we have to take steps to rein in the wasteful Washington spending," Missouri Republican Vicky Hartzler said. "We have to get something for that vote."

House Republican demands to roll back parts of Obama's health-care law or promote the Keystone pipeline as part of a debt-ceiling increase contributed to a 16-day partial government shutdown in October. Congress ultimately suspended the limit without conditions.

Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said his party could get enough support for a debt-ceiling increase "if you address the underlying problem" of long-term spending.

"Short of that, that's where it's tough to get the votes," he said.

Boehner of Ohio has called the October shutdown a "predictable disaster" and said Republicans won't let the U.S. default on its obligations.

The health-care option Republicans had been considering would repeal Obamacare provisions designed to limit losses incurred by health insurers if the cost of covering an older, sicker pool of people is higher than they anticipated.

Without those provisions, insurers may have to raise premiums, further discouraging healthy people from signing up, a potential death spiral for the insurance exchanges.