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WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats, looking for a way to increase the debt limit without the backing of Republicans, are considering changing house rules and allowing the debt limit to be increased to simple majority, creating a new exclusion for filibuster.
Creating a new filibuster exception is gaining support from Senate Democrats, four sources familiar with the discussion told NBC News. All have asked to speak anonymously to detail the closed-door discussions.
Congress has until Oct. 18 to raise the limit, or the Treasury says the United States may no longer be able to meet its financial obligations.
The filibuster has become the target of liberal activists, who say the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to pass most legislation stands in the way of Democrats’ passage of sweeping legislation, including the expansion of legislation. government programs, the adoption of gun control and climate change. measures. Moderate Democrats in the Senate opposed the elimination of filibuster.
The debt ceiling has become the last flashpoint in Congress, with a deadline approaching and partisan fights over how it should be lifted, even as Republicans and Democrats say it should be lifted.
Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who is one of the strongest supporters of maintaining filibuster, has not ruled out changing the debt limit rules.
“We are not going to default,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m not ruling things out. I just know there are enough people here who won’t let this country fail.”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill, said Democrats “should have this conversation” about changing the filibuster rules to increase the debt limit.
Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Said on Tuesday Republicans were setting the house on fire and using filibuster to prevent firefighters from putting it out. “It could destroy our credit, our jobs and our family savings. We need to reform the filibuster,” he said on Twitter.
Senate Republicans say Democrats should use a rule known as reconciliation to raise the cap without Republicans backing – a complicated process that could take hundreds of votes. This is the same process Democrats are currently using to try to pass a massive social safety net bill that could cost as much as $ 3.5 trillion.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ruled out using this process for raising the debt ceiling on Tuesday.
“We don’t have the luxury of using a long, convoluted and risky process,” Schumer told reporters.
Schumer warned that the The United States is “dangerously” approaching the debt ceiling, which would lead to default on the national debt.
Speaking in the Senate, the New York Democrat said lawmakers would hold a procedural vote on Wednesday. The vote is expected to fail because there are not 10 Republicans ready to join the Democrats.
Schumer said monday that Congress must pass a law that would raise the debt ceiling by the end of the week.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that October 18 was the deadline before the United States “runs out of extraordinary measures, has limited liquidity and is likely to run out very quickly.” She warned that a default could plunge the US economy into recession.
Minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Has said he supports increasing the limit, as the Senate did in 2017 when he was majority leader, but said Democrats must deal with the problem on their own without help from GOP lawmakers. Senate Republicans last week blocked a vote on a government financing bill offered by Democrats because it included an extension of the debt ceiling.
Schumer argued on Tuesday that Democrats can prevent default on Wednesday in a procedural vote if Republicans “just walk away.”
Separately, McConnell said on Tuesday that Democrats had “a lot of time” to implement the increase in the debt ceiling and “have chosen not to.”
“Look, the debt ceiling needs to be addressed. The only question is who should fix it,” McConnell told reporters at their weekly press conference. “We’ve been blazing a trail for two months here, it’s easy to do. There’s a lot of extra time this month to get the job done, and I hope our friends on the other side will step in and to take care of.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Tuesday in a separate interview on CNBC that Democrats “can, at any time, raise the debt ceiling. They can do this using only Democratic votes as part of budget reconciliation. “
“There will be no fault. Schumer knows it, Biden knows it, Pelosi knows it. But first they want to play political games, ”he said.
Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Republicans “are trying to confuse and confuse the” debt limit issue.
“But the American people are smart. They know that when they receive bills that they have decided to incur, they have to pay them. And we have to pay the bills, ”he said. “The last thing this economy needs to come out of a pandemic is to send the entire economy into free fall.”
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