The Hill News

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) urged House Republicans to call President Obama's "bluff," and force him into signing a short-term extension to the debt limit that would ensure Social Security checks are sent on time.

Following Obama's threat that Social Security recipients might not receive their checks on time on Aug. 3, if the U.S. defaults on its debt the day before, Gingrich outlined a strategy intended to ensure checks for retirees.

"I think the House Republicans should call President Obama's bluff," Gingrich said Tuesday evening on Fox News.

"The House Republicans ought to go in tomorrow or the next day, pass a $100 billion cut in spending and a $100 billion increase in the debt ceiling â€" so they're exactly bal! anced," he said. "That takes us all the way through to September. And they should call that the 'Social Security Payment Guarantee Bill.'"

Obama warned that a default on the nation's debt obligations could mean that the government might cease distributing Social Security checks. The specter of the halted checks might be real, but more importantly for the administration, it drives home the severity of potential default if lawmakers don't reach an agreement by the Aug. 2 deadline.

Some Republicans have disputed the notion that the government would necessarily shut down or cease its necessary functions if the deadline comes and passes without a deal, though the Social Security threat could be more real to voters.

Gingrich ar! gued that by passing such a stopgap measure â€" the kind of sh! ort-term deal that Obama has insisted he wouldn't sign â€" Republicans in Congress would be putting the blame on the president, and avoiding blowback for any cessation in benefits.

"Put the shoe back on his foot, make him responsible," he said. "And you can do that once a month for the next 18 months."