Senate Moves to Advance Bill Raising the Debt Limit

Politics|The Senate moves to beforehand a measure raising the U.S. indebtedness limit, inviting different clash with Republicans.

• Published Sept. 30, 2021Updated Oct. 1, 2021, 8:51 a.m. ET

The Senate took its archetypal procedural measurement connected Thursday to beforehand a stand-alone measure that would assistance the statutory bounds connected national borrowing until December 2022, adjacent though it is each but guaranteed to neglect amid a Republican filibuster.

Senate Democrats pushed guardant with a party-line 50-to-43 ballot connected the legislation, which cleared the House connected Wednesday. A time earlier, the Treasury Department warned that it would hit the bounds by Oct. 18 and inaction would hazard a first-ever default connected the national debt.

Congress raises the indebtedness bounds to screen spending it has already approved, and nonaccomplishment to code that ceiling could unit the Treasury Department to default connected its loans and conflict to wage Social Security payments and important benefits.

Republicans proceed to importune that Democrats, who power the White House and some chambers of Congress, should enactment to assistance the indebtedness ceiling without immoderate votes from the number party. Democrats, who helped rise the headdress nether the Trump administration, person argued that Republicans should assistance enarthrosis the governmental work for specified measure.

But successful the Senate, wherever some parties power 50 seats, Republicans are adamant that they volition not assistance Democrats wide the 60-vote threshold needed to beforehand astir pieces of legislation.

Democrats initially sought to code the indebtedness ceiling with a proviso successful the backing bundle passed and signed into instrumentality connected Thursday to support the authorities unfastened done aboriginal December, but Senate Republicans blocked its inclusion.

“Despite Republicans’ intransigence, the facts person not changed: we indispensable rise the indebtedness ceiling,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the bulk leader. “We cannot let America to default.”

Democrats tried to waive the 60-vote threshold for a stand-alone indebtedness ceiling measure earlier this week, arguing that Republicans conscionable needed to measurement speech and let the measurement to scope the floor. But Republicans refused to bash so, arguing that Democrats should alternatively usage the aforesaid fast-track reconciliation process to assistance the indebtedness ceiling that they are already readying to usage to beforehand a sprawling societal argumentation measure that could outgo arsenic overmuch arsenic $3.5 trillion.

“The decision to gully from this week is precise clear: Clumsy efforts astatine partisan jams bash not work,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the number leader. “What works is erstwhile the bulk accepts reality.”