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West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said on Wednesday that “nothing changes” about his position on how filibuster works – suggesting that Democratic attempts to raise the debt ceiling could again be thwarted.
Senate Democrats face increasing pressure to raise the country’s debt threshold by October 18, as the Biden administration feared the United States would default on its financial obligations.
Republicans in the upper house, who have already voted twice against raising the US debt ceiling, are expected to block another vote on Wednesday.
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Earlier this week, reports showed Democrats were considering changing house rules to create an exception to filibuster and allow the debt ceiling to be increased by simple majority.
“I have been very, very clear where I stand, where I stand on the filibuster,” Manchin told reporters on Wednesday. “Nothing changes. But the bottom line is that we have the responsibility to be adults. Our leadership has the responsibility to lead and that’s what I ask, imploring them to do.”
Democrats will have little choice but to consider pushing through an increase in the cap through budget reconciliation – an option Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said last week. was a “non-runner”.
Budget reconciliation is a tool the Senate majority could use to speed up budget action without any minority support, and a way around a blockade of filibuster – which would require at least 10 Republicans to cross party lines.
Congress was able to reconcile a 2010 budget in 13 days when the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was passed.
And more recently, Congress passed the US bailout as part of the 15-day reconciliation process.
But Schumer fears that this legislative tool will prove too complex to pass through both chambers in just 12 days.
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“Going through reconciliation is risky for the country,” Schumer told reporters. “Going through the long, convoluted and difficult reconciliation process with a debt limit is very, very risky.”
“We are not pursuing this,” he added.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Urged this route on Wednesday, arguing Democrats “have plenty of time to do it.”
“It would be possible that temporal agreements are concluded well before any danger,” he said from the Senate.
McConnell on Monday urged President Biden to “engage directly” with Democrats in the Senate to rally all of his colleagues, warning that no Republican would help raise the debt ceiling.
White House officials have warned that failure to meet financial obligations could pose a threat to national security.
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Manchin urged Senate leaders ahead of Wednesday’s vote to come together to find a solution to prevent a federal default.
“We will not fail as a country. We will not fail. It is the responsibility that we have as senators, as Congress, as 535 of us responsible for protecting this great country, ”Manchin said. “I implore them, get involved, start working, solve this. It shouldn’t be a crisis.”
Chad Pergram and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
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