Samuel Case, FISM News

[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″]

The Dec. 15 debt ceiling deadline looms with no progress having been made since Senate Republicans offered a short-term deal to pass an emergency extension in October, temporarily raising the borrowing limit to $28.9 trillion. 

At the time, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell wrote a letter to President Biden telling him that Republicans will not be helping Democrats again in December. 

Last night, Republicans filled the leadership vacuum that has troubled the Senate since January. I write to inform you that I will not provide such assistance again if your all-Democrat government drifts into another avoidable crisis.

Once again the Senate remains in a deadlock with Republicans, insisting Democrats raise the limit by themselves through the use of budget reconciliation to override an inevitable GOP filibuster. Democrats argue the process could take weeks, but Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) said that Republicans would “yield back time and not drag it out.” 

Democrats remain staunchly opposed to raising the limit through reconciliation, with some in the party looking to change Senate rules to bypass the filibuster when raising the debt ceiling. However this proposal has been repeatedly shot down by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WY) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell met on Nov. 18 to discuss the debt ceiling among other issues, which McConnell described as “a good discussion” upon leaving Schumer’s office.  

When asked specifically about the debt limit, the GOP leader simply said “We’ll figure out how to avoid default,” adding “We always do.”