House Republicans Mulling New 'Supercommittee' On Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans are weighing legislation requiring the creation of a new negotiating panel to find deficit-reductions as part of efforts to reopen the federal government and increase Treasury Department borrowing authority, a senior House aide said.

The aide likened the proposal to the creation in 2011 of a "supercommittee," made up of Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate, who were tasked with finding trillions of dollars in new budget savings over 10 years. That panel collapsed in failure in November 2011.

House Democrats, speaking to reporters, said they would reject the creation of such a panel. They want the government to reopen and the debt limit increased before entering any deficit-reduction negotiations.