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Article snippet: National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn on Friday said spending reforms might be necessary to pass a debt ceiling bill through Congress, despite Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's call for a "clean" increase. “Every Treasury secretary would love to have a clean debt ceiling, I understand that. I think in a perfect world you’d love to have a clean debt ceiling. But if we need to get things attached to get it through, we'll attach things,” Cohn said in a Friday interview on CNBC. “At the end of the day, Congress is going to raise the debt ceiling because they have no other choice,” he added. Trump's budget director, Mick Mulvaney, parted ways with Mnuchin on the issue, creating an unusual rift in the administration. He told the Washington Examiner that he would ”like to see things attached to [a debt ceiling bill] that drive certain spending reforms and debt reforms in the future." Conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus, a group that Mulvaney co-founded, have called for using the debt ceiling lift as leverage to push through spending cuts and government reforms. Mnuchin has warned a debt ceiling increase could be needed before the August recess, adding another wrinkle to an already-crowded legislative session, in which Republicans also hope to pass healthcare reform and a 2018 budget resolution. Notably, Cohn's comments echoed those of Speaker MORE (R-Wis.), who said it's typical for Treasury to want a debt increase without other policies incl... Link to the full article to read more