The Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling in order for the government to avoid running out of money this October. Knowing it will come to a Senate vote, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put his foot down.
The Republicans will vote for the debt to default, and the Democrats can think of something else to avert the crisis.
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Democrats In a Bind Over Debt Ceiling
Last week, the White House was already pressing the panic button and called for Congress to raise the debt ceiling. This move will help avoid the government default over its loans.
By Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said they will pass legislation. The bill will help fund the government and will suspend the debt ceiling until the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress earlier this month September that the government’s funds will likely run out by October. This is mainly because of the continued uncertainty fostered by the pandemic.
Democrats Plead For Bipartisan Support
As a result, the House and Senate will jointly pass legislation before the October deadline. The plan is to pass a bill to fund the government until 2022.
At the same time, it will tack on a debt ceiling suspension through December. This will help meet “obligations and protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”
“Addressing the debt limit is about meeting obligations the government has already made, like the bipartisan emergency COVID relief legislation from December as well as vital payments to Social Security recipients and our veterans,” the Democrat leaders wrote in a statement.
“Furthermore, as the Administration warned last week, a reckless Republican-forced default could plunge the country into a recession,’ they added.
Republicans Will Let The Democrats Take Care of the Debt Ceiling Crisis
Despite the pleas of urgency, McConnell remained unfazed. “We will not support legislation that raises the debt limit,” McConnell said. “Democrats do not need our help,” he added. “Let me make it perfectly clear. The country must never default.
The debt ceiling will need to be raised. But who does that depends on who the American people elect,” McConnell said. He acknowledged that the GOP will have to vote on something they never wanted to happen.
However, McConnell said that since the Democrats control the White House and both the House and the Senate, they can fix the mess they made. They’ll need to do something to stave off economic disaster.
With the incoming midterm elections next year, the Republican minority leader wants to keep the GOP’s hands clean. He wants to make sure the Democrats take the credit for all the spending that’s going on.
Thankfully, GOP senators are behind him. Already, 46 Republicans signed a pledge saying they will oppose any bills suspending the debt limit. What happens after the September 30 deadline will all be the Democrats’ fault.
Irresponsible Spending
Republican leaders point to the Democrat’s penchant for irresponsible spending as the main reason they won’t help. Specifically, the GOP lawmakers pointed to the $3.5 trillion budget plan that aims to increase spending on social programs.
Last week, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) told reporters that “The Democrats have added enormous amounts of debt, including the $1.9 trillion packages, now $3.5 trillion on top of that, so they bear the responsibility for increasing the debt limit.”
Meanwhile, Democrats called the GOP hypocrites for refusing responsibility on the national debt. Dem officials said that the national debt grew to $8 trillion under the previous President, Donald Trump.
In addition, they scored McConnell and the GOP for pushing to raise the debt ceiling thrice while they were the majority.
Watch the Forbes Breaking News video reporting that McConnell: Democrats will not get a single Republican’s vote to raise the debt ceiling:
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