A conservative activist group backed by the industrialist Koch brothers is urging Republicans to show restraint during US debt ceiling negotiations, representing a shift in position by the usually hardline Americans for Prosperity.

The move by the influential group underscores concern that a political stand-off over extending the US’s borrowing limit, which many Republicans are pushing for at the end of February, would diminish public support in the long term for sharp cuts in government spending, AFP’s goal. The activist group opposed an agreement that raised the debt ceiling in 2011 because it said the deal did not go far enough to cut spending.

“We’re saying calibrate your message. Focus on overspending instead of long-term debt,” said Tim Phillips, president of AFP. “Focusing on debt makes the messaging more difficult.”