House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said today that some members of his
own caucus who are refusing to agree to a compromise debt ceiling deal
are hoping to unleash “chaos” and thus force the White House and Senate
Democrats to make bigger concessions than they’re already offering. As
many as 40 House Republicans, especially Tea Party members and freshmen,
have demanded nothing short of changing the Constitution to include a
balanced budget amendment before they would vote to raise debt ceiling,
even though that has zero chance before the U.S. faces potential default
on Aug. 2.

Speaking on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham’s show this morning,
Boehner agreed that failing to raise the limit before the deadline would
be devastating, and said the “chaos” plan won’t work when asked by
Ingraham what’s motivating the recalcitrant Republicans:

BOEHNER: Well, first they want more. And my goodness, I want more
too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get passed August
the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the
White House to accept a balanced budget amendment. I’m not sure that
that — I don’t think that that strategy works. Because I think the
closer we get to August the second, frankly, the less leverage we have
vis a vis our colleagues in the Senate and the White House.