Democrats aim to suspend debt ceiling with bill to avoid government shutdown

House Democrats will combine a short-term government spending bill with an increase in the debt limit, a package expected to fall to the ground this week, the president said Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiBiden pushes Democrats back on taxes Yarmuth and Clyburn suggest .5T package could be lightened From partisan fights and follies, or why Democrats should follow Manchin, not Sanders MORE (D-Calif.) Announced Monday.

The move comes after weeks of debate over how best to increase the government’s borrowing limit and avoid default, amid opposition from Senate Republicans who threaten to oppose the measure to protest President BidenJoe BidenCapitol’s fencing begins to drop after ‘Justice for J6′ rally Senate MP rejects Democrats’ immigration plan Biden pushes Democrats back on taxes MOREspending plans.

By bundling the increase in the debt limit with the Continuing Resolution, or CR, which will extend government funding until December, Pelosi dares the Senate Minority Leader Mitch mcconnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump Seeks Challenger For McConnell As Senate GOP Leader: President Budget Report: Tackling Debt Ceiling “A Ridiculous Position To Be” Buckle Your Belt For More Trump, With The kind permission of the Democratic Party MORE (R-Ky.) To sink the package and risk a government shutdown on October 1.

In a joint statement with the Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerBiden discusses agenda with Schumer and Pelosi ahead of pivotal week CEOs urge Congress to raise debt ceiling or risk ‘avoidable crisis’ (D-Calif.) Pelosi said they would suspend the debt limit until the end of 2022. That timeline, executives said, reflects the $ 908 billion COVID relief package approved by the two. parties last December, when President TrumpDonald Trump’s fencing Capitol begins to drop after “Justice for J6” rally Netanyahu suggests Biden fell asleep during a meeting with the Israeli prime minister. was still in office.

“The American people expect our fellow Republicans to take responsibility and pay off the debts they proudly helped incur in the December 2020 COVID ‘908’ package that helped American families and small businesses to recovering from the COVID crisis, ”Pelosi and Schumer mentioned.

McConnell, however, insisted Republicans would not help Democrats raise the debt ceiling, citing Democrats controlling both houses of Congress and the White House.

“The country must never default. The debt ceiling will have to be raised,” McConnell said this month in an interview with Punchbowl News. “But who does that depends on who the American people elect.”

This stance against a policy he says he supports goes against the strategy of the Democrats when they were the minority party under Trump and has helped raise the debt ceiling on several occasions.

Yet McConnell gave no indication that he intended to change his mind, increasing the chances of the government shutting down. The high-stakes chicken game is already eliciting a fierce streak of finger points, with each side blaming the other for the stalemate.

In the midst of the debate, Democrats point out that increasing the debt ceiling does not authorize or affect new federal spending, but simply allows the Treasury to borrow additional funds to cover spending already approved by Congress.

“Tackling the debt limit is about meeting obligations the government has already taken on, like December’s bipartisan COVID emergency relief legislation as well as life-saving payments to Social Security recipients and our elders. fighters, ”Pelosi and Schumer said in their statement.

Adding to the urgency, the Secretary of the Treasury Janet YellenJanet Louise YellenBiden Pushes Democrats Back on Taxes Five Questions and Answers on Fighting Debt Ceiling White House touts Nobel economists’ support for Biden PLUS program said that under current conditions the ministry will hit its borrowing limit at an undetermined time in October.

In a Wall Street Journal editorial published this weekend, Yellen warned that a government default would prove to be a devastating – and irreparable – blow to the U.S. economy.

“We would emerge from this crisis a sustainably weaker nation,” she wrote.

Updated at 15:36