The Hill News

President Obama said Friday that spending cuts will almost certainly be attached to a vote to raise the nation's debt limit. 

Obama said that it is critical for the world economy that Congress vote to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, but said that he would have to reach an accord with Republicans, who have called for a vote to be conditional on passage of fiscal reform

{mosads}"I think it's absolutely right that it's not going to happen without some spending cuts," Obama said during an interview with The Associated Press.

Obama's comments are one of the clearest signs yet that spending cuts will be a part of a final vote to lift the debt ceiling, which the U.S. is o! n a path to hit on May 16. 

Obama predicted that Congress would eventually lift the debt ceiling, and urged them to act quickly. 

"We always have. We will do it again," he said.

"We can do it separate to that,” he said Thursday. 

Republican leaders, facing pressure from their base, have demanded that "serious" spending cuts be attached to a debt limit vote. 

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a Tea Party favorite, said Thursday that he is willing to go to extreme lengths if other fiscal reforms are not attached. 

Asked if that would serve as the GOP's "Waterloo" in the 2012 elections, the senator replied, "If it is, then let it be."

The president said that he is looking to bridge the divide between Democrats and Republicans, saying he wants "a smart compromise that's serious."