Congressional Democrats might abandon their calls for raising the nation's debt limit without any conditions, with House and Senate party leaders now discussing whether to use their leverage to try to prevent Republicans from enacting tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi signaled the shift Friday, telling reporters that "we're not there to raise the debt ceiling to throw a few crumbs to the middle class" and provide big cuts for the wealthy. 

It's unclear how this would work in practice, but Democratic aides in both chambers said they are discussing possible strategies to tie the debt ceiling to blocking tax cuts.

Such an approach would be a significant change for Democrats, who have spent the past eight years arguing that debt ceiling increases should be free from conditions, and could further complicate efforts to raise the government's borrowing authority when the current limit is reached later this year.