Republicans and Democrats have agreed on a plan to raise the government’s debt ceiling–it’s not simple or elegant and it has the reminds me of one of those Rube Goldberg machines that use a bowling ball to feed the dog.
But, I’ll take it to avoid a U.S. default near the middle of December–if it actually works.
The plan moving through the House would link a procedure to raise the debt ceiling to a bill to prevent automatic Medicare cuts. Lawmakers would then pass a separate bill to raise the debt limit by about $2 trillion to put the issue to rest until after the midterm election in November, according to an aide. Over in the Senate a procedural maneuver would allow Democrats to increase the debt limit with only Democratic votes. The maneuver involves a gimmick: The bill coming before the House this week would need 10 Republican votes in the Senate to advance, but that bill does not raise the debt limit. That might be enough to produce the needed Republican votes since those Senators would not be, in fact, voting to raise the debt ceiling. But passing that first bill would set up a process whereby a separate bill introduced before the end of the year aimed at raising the debt ceiling cannot be filibustered in the Senate. That second bill could be passed with just Democratic votes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the legislation to the House Rules Committee, which scheduled an afternoon meeting to advance the measures to potential floor action later today, December 7.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the government could hit the debt limit and have difficulty meeting its obligations after December 15. Outside analysts have said the government has a bit more time than that.
