House Republicans backed away from their resolute position on the federal debt ceiling, announcing Friday that they will move this week to boost the government's borrowing authority for three months.

The move is a retreat from the earlier insistence among some Republicans that any such debt increase will have to be matched by spending cuts of equal or greater size.

A vote on the proposal is expected Wednesday. If successful, the measure will postpone what was expected to be a major clash with the White House over government spending.