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Congressional leaders struck a deal Tuesday on an expedited process to raise the debt ceiling, an effort they signaled is on track to diffuse a months-long standoff over the issue and avert a default before next week’s deadline.
The agreement, brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, would allow for a simple majority vote to increase the nation’s borrowing limit in the Senate instead of needing 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Some Republican senators would need to vote for the strategy, but Democrats alone would ultimately be the ones to pass the debt ceiling hike.
The House is expected to pass legislation on Tuesday night that includes both authorizing the debt ceiling strategy as well as preventing cuts to Medicare. Approval for such a procedure in the Senate is less certain but trending in the right direction, according to both leaders. Congress must raise the debt ceiling by Dec. 15 or the U.S. risks defaulting on its debt.
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McConnell said he expects a similar vote in the Senate on Thursday that’ll greenlight a one-time change to a simple majority vote. If that clears the Senate, both chambers will still need to hold another vote on the actual debt limit. The time frame and amount is still uncertain but reports suggest the limit would likely be raised – not suspended – through next year.
After a contentious fight two months earlier on the issue, Congress is on the cusp of avoiding a fiscal disaster. Republicans wanted Democrats to raise the limit on their own through the budget reconciliation process that similarly suspends breaking a 60-vote filibuster with only 51 votes. But Democrats refused, fearing that the complicated and lengthy process could hurt a must-pass item.
Senate Republicans previously blocked efforts to raise the cap through 2022 but backed down in October with a short-term deal that would once again force the issue in December. And after pouring cold water on a proposal to tie the debt ceiling to the annual defense policy bill, both parties reached an agreement to deal with it separately.
At a Tuesday press conference, Schumer noted that Democrats “were always willing to carry the burden” of addressing the debt limit on their own with all 50 of their senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote. He touted that the deal allows them to do it without the “convoluted” process of reconciliation, which was a nonstarter for his party.
“It looks like the Republicans will help us facilitate that, so we feel very good about where we’re headed on the debt ceiling,” Schumer said. “It’s not done until it’s done but the idea of letting Democrats carry it ourselves is what we’ve always said and that’s the direction we are heading in.”
Republicans made a concession by relenting on their push for reconciliation to be the vehicle to lift the debt ceiling. While they won’t ultimately vote for it, 10 GOP senators will need to vote with all 50 Democrats to approve the process of requiring only a simple majority of support on the actual legislation.
McConnell, however, argued that the shift in strategy still leaves GOP red lines “intact” because only Democrats will vote on formal debt ceiling legislation.
“We reached a solution to the debt ceiling issue that’s consistent with Republican views of raising the debt ceiling for this amount at this particular time and allows Democrats to proudly own it – which they’re happy to do,” McConnell said Tuesday.
“I think it is also in the best interest of Republicans who feel very strongly that the previous debt ceilings that we agreed to when President Trump was here carried us through August and this current debt ceiling is indeed about the future and not the past,” he added.
McConnell spent Tuesday selling the rules change to his conference, which inevitably received some pushback from conservatives who don’t want any fingerprints on the debt ceiling, even indirectly. But the GOP leader voiced confidence that his party will be able to secure the 10 votes needed and already appeared to get some positive reception from others in leadership.
“I’m confident that this particular procedure coupled with the avoidance of Medicare cuts will achieve enough Republican support to clear the 60-vote threshold,” McConnell said, “and then later when the majority leader decides to have the procedure it can all occur in one day and the actual debt ceiling vote will be done at a 51-vote threshold.”