Senate Republicans Block Funding and Debt Ceiling Bill

Congress is running out of time to prevent a shutdown and default.

Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a bill that would fund the government and suspend the U.S. debt ceiling, leaving Democrats scrambling to avoid possible economic calamity.

Legislation passed by the House would have funded the government until December and suspended the U.S. debt ceiling until December next year, after the midterm elections to Congress.

Lawmakers must approve government funding by Friday to avoid a shutdown. The United States is at risk of default if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling by a point expected to happen in October, according to the Treasury Department.

After every Republican in the House opposed the measure, the Senate GOP also refused to help Democrats suspend the debt limit. In a vote of 48-50, all Republican senators opposed advancing the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., voted no as a procedural step so he could revisit the bill later.

Democrats must now perform a series of dreaded maneuvers to avoid a string of events that could devastate the economy and cost millions of Americans their jobs. The Republican opposition could force them to pass a short-term funding bill with GOP backing, and then themselves approve a debt ceiling suspension – potentially as part of their up to $ 3 budget reconciliation plan. 500 billion dollars.

“The Republican Party has solidified itself as the default party, and the American people will pay the price,” Schumer said after the vote.

He added that “we will take further action” this week to try to prevent a shutdown and a fault. He did not specify how the Democrats would proceed.

Government funding will expire if lawmakers do not pass an appropriation bill by midnight Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers the United States would no longer have the means to pay its bills in October unless Congress raises the debt ceiling.

Public funding and the debt ceiling are separate issues. Raising or suspending the cap does not authorize new government spending, but allows the United States to borrow to cover existing obligations.

Democrats criticized Republicans for risking economic ruin while opposing a suspension of the debt ceiling, which they have supported in the past. The party also noted that the GOP has voted for trillions of dollars in emergency coronavirus aid since Congress last suspended the limit.

Republicans have argued their counterparts should suspend the debt ceiling on their own as they prepare to invest up to $ 3.5 trillion in social safety net and climate policy without the GOP.

Speaking ahead of the vote on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Reiterated that Republicans would vote for a short-term funding bill that does not raise the debt ceiling.

“We will not provide Republican votes to raise the debt ceiling,” he said.

He tried before the failed vote to bring up a credit plan that does not address the borrowing limit. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Opposed his decision.

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