On Tuesday, the House voted — on almost straight party lines — to pass a procedural bill to raise the debt ceiling. Now, as the bill moves to the Senate, Democrats will need 10 Republicans to vote to end debate and allow the bill to go to a full vote in the Senate — where it is almost certain to pass. In a conciliatory move that is a reversal of his previous stance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is encouraging Republicans not to filibuster, but to allow the bill top pass.
The House bill passed by a margin of 222-212, with Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois being the only Republican to vote for raising the debt ceiling. As Fox News reports:
House lawmakers passed a procedural bill Tuesday allowing the Senate to raise the debt ceiling by 222-212, clearing the way for Democrats to proceed without needing Republican support.
The bill now proceeds to the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans will have to join Democrats in voting in favor of the procedure. From there, the Senate will vote to raise the debt ceiling by a fixed dollar amount, with passage obtainable by a simple majority vote.
“Once the Senate has passed the legislation lifting the debt limit, the House will take up that bill and send it to the President,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers ahead of the vote.
With prices rising on an almost weekly basis on nearly everything as a result of the Biden administration’s economic policies — especially the ongoing “stimulus” checks going out to scores of millions of Americans — the prospect of raising the debt limit does not bode well for the future. But as Biden continues to push forward with his “Build Back Better” plan, he seems to have found an ally in Mitch McConnell. With a filibuster as the only way to prevent that from happening, McConnell “encouraging” Republicans to sit quietly by and allow it is tantamount to approval.
From the Fox News report:
The procedural legislation stemmed from lengthy negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. The bill also includes measures preventing cuts to Medicare programs.
The maneuver will allow Congress to avoid a debt default while sidestepping a months-long partisan debate. Republican lawmakers say Democrats should raised the debt ceiling without their help, arguing any suspension of the limit would facilitate spending on costly social and climate programs included in President Biden’s “Build Back Better Act.”
“I believe we’ve reached here a solution to the debt ceiling issue that’s consistent with Republican views of raising the debt ceiling for this amount at this particular time and allows the Democrats to proudly own it, which they’re happy to do,” McConnell told reporters earlier in the day.
Due to excessive spending by the federal government, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed lawmakers last month that the federal government would reach its debt ceiling by December 15. This was after congressional lawmakers voted along party lines in October to raise the the ceiling by nearly half a trillion dollars.
The bill is expected to come up for a Senate vote Thursday, and according to Schumer, it is all but a done deal. “Our goal has been to increase the debt limit,” Schumer said, adding, “We want a simple majority without a convoluted, risky, lengthy process, and it looks like the Republicans will help us facilitate that, so we feel very good about where we’re headed on the debt ceiling.”
The “convoluted, risky, lengthy process” Schumer spoke of avoiding is known as the budget reconciliation process. It would allow Democrats to pass their debt increase without any Republican help, since the process does not allow filibustering. But why take that difficult road when McConnell is willing to convince Republicans to roll over?
As Fox News reported:
The maneuver will allow Congress to avoid a debt default while sidestepping a months-long partisan debate. Republican lawmakers say Democrats should raised the debt ceiling without their help, arguing any suspension of the limit would facilitate spending on costly social and climate programs included in President Biden’s “Build Back Better Act.”
The reality is that raising the debt ceiling helps the Biden administration continue to press forward with “Build Back Better.” Just two months ago, McConnell made it clear that if Democrats wanted to raise the debt ceiling and push the nation further into the red, they would have to do it on their own — no Republican support. In November, he said, “Bipartisanship is not a light switch that Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer may flip on to borrow money and flip off to spend it,” adding, “Republicans’ position is simple. We have no list of demands. For two and a half months, we have simply warned that since your party wishes to govern alone, it must handle the debt limit alone as well.”
But that was then; this is now. And politics being what it is, McConnell appears to have found a new tune.
That change of tune drew the ire of President Trump. “So Mitch McConnell has the greatest hand, the greatest, the best, this is such an easy negotiation to kill the Build Back Worse plan of Biden, which is going to destroy our country permanently,” Trump told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt Wednesday. Trump went on to say, “We have a thing called the debt ceiling, and this morning, I hear he gave it up. He gave it up for practically nothing. He could have used the debt ceiling card.”
With Republicans like Mitch McConnell, who needs Democrats?
