Anxious Democrats Launch Plan B: Raise Debt Ceiling During Party Line Vote

“It’s a top national priority to avoid default – that’s no excuse,” Cooper told CNN on Wednesday. “So you have to do whatever it takes to avoid the default. You can’t let America default. Period.”

Powerful House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal told CNN he would support action to raise the debt ceiling with only Democratic votes throughout the budget process.

“If we had to do it, I would,” said Neal, who is a Democrat from Massachusetts. “I mean the idea that America would default on debt is so far removed from anything I’ve ever entertained or thought about since I’ve been here. I mean, I’m amazed we even have these moments. . ”

When asked again if he would be in favor of Democrats raising the debt ceiling themselves if the GOP’s stance does not change, Neal reiterated, “I would be in favor of paying our debts, yes. ”

And Democratic Representative Haley Stevens, whose Michigan district has been targeted by Republicans for 2022, said when asked to raise the debt limit with only Democratic votes: “We have to do what it is necessary to avoid a defect. ”

Instead, they tied a suspension of the debt limit to a bill to be passed to fund the government by the September 30 deadline, daring Republicans to block it and risk default and failure. potentially catastrophic shutdowns of federal agencies.

Pointing out about trillions more in taxes and spending that Democrats want to push along straight party lines throughout the budget process, Thune said, “If they do all of this with 51 votes, they will increase the debt ceiling with 51 votes. ”

“Are we hostages of Republicans threatening to blow up part of the economic system because they want to do it for politics?” asked Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts who is a member of Schumer’s leadership team. “It’s just not where we should be as a nation.”

Failure to raise the debt ceiling on time could stop the payments millions of Americans rely on, including federal workers’ paychecks, Medicare benefits, military salaries, government reimbursements. taxes, social security checks and payments to federal contractors. A memo released by the White House last week to state and local authorities listed several programs that would be halted if Congress failed, including disaster relief, Medicaid, the children’s health insurance program, infrastructure, education, public health and child nutrition.

Six former treasury secretaries on Wednesday urged congressional leaders to raise the debt ceiling, saying an “unprecedented default” could “cause serious damage to the economy and national security” and “threaten the economic growth “.

Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, said on Wednesday that he and his staff had explored the possibility of going through the reconciliation process to increase the debt limit – and he has insisted that this was not possible. to remove it.

“You can’t do it,” Yarmuth said Wednesday. “The problems are almost insurmountable. And you certainly couldn’t have done it in time to avoid a fault.”

Yarmuth also made it clear Pelosi’s resistance.

“Rarely have I heard the speaker and leaders more emphatic about anything they are not going to do with reconciliation,” Yarmuth said, referring to the budget process.

Democrats have largely resisted talking about what would happen next if Republicans blocked their bill to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government until mid-December, arguing Republicans had no other choice. choice than to change your mind.

“I have no doubts that the Republican Party – at least some of them – will come to their senses and not allow us to default,” Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucus with the Democrats.

This route, however, would force Democrats to take tough votes.

Part of the resistance to increasing the debt ceiling has been that, unlike suspending or suspending the debt ceiling, increasing it would require Democrats to include an exact dollar figure of how much they wish to increase the debt ceiling. debt of the country. For the Democrats running for re-election, this is a ready-made campaign announcement that leaders are fully aware could be politically damaging.

Yet some argue that raising the debt ceiling may not be as controversial as it once was.

Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat on the budget committee, told reporters he didn’t have a clear idea of ​​how the debt ceiling was being raised, he just wanted to make sure it happened. .

Other Democrats hoped their leadership would repeatedly force Republicans to vote on legislation to raise the cap, and that included maintaining the increase tied to the government funding bill.

“It looks like we’ll have to give Republicans multiple chances not to terrorize the US economy,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut.

But whether Republicans block the bill in the Senate, as expected, exactly what Democrats do remains to be seen – and many on Capitol Hill have little idea what happens next.

“We’re going to throw small bricks,” said Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat from California, when asked what Democrats would do if the GOP blocked raising the debt ceiling.

He let out a laugh, then walked over to the House floor.