Democrats, Republicans vote to lift debt ceiling for now: LIVE UPDATES
Senate lawmakers voted to approve a short-term increase to the federal debt ceiling on Thursday night, ending a weekslong standoff on Capitol Hill and averting a default that could have triggered a recession.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has informed President Joe Biden that he, along with other Republican senators, will not vote to raise the debt ceiling in December should Democrats face "another avoidable crisis."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told President Biden that he and other Republicans would not help Democrats raise the debt ceiling again in December after what he described as a "bizarre spectacle" on the Senate floor last night, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich.
McConnell was referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's remarks last night after the Senate approved a debt ceiling increase. Schumer said the debt ceiling crisis was "Republican-manufactured" and accused the GOP of playing a "dangerous and risky partisan game." Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin appeared visibly upset with Schumer during the speech.
In his letter to Biden, McConnell said the speech was "so partisan, angry and corrosive that even Democratic senators were visibly embarrassed by him and for him."
"I am writing to make it clear that in light of Senator Schumer's hysterics and my grave concerns about the ways that another vast, reckless, partisan spending bill would hurt Americans and help China, I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement," McConnell told Biden.
Congress is in for a hellish holiday season, as it will be forced to tackle two must-pass bills by approximately Dec. 3, while also trying to maneuver through Democrats' massive spending bill and the infrastructure bill.
The continuing resolution Congress passed last month keeps the government open until Dec. 3, by which point another bill will have to pass to keep the government open. That deadline will be paired with another deadline at about the same time to raise the debt ceiling again.
The $480 billion debt ceiling increase the Senate passed Thursday -- which the House is expected to concur with next week -- is only designed as a short term fix to avert the debt default that would have come Oct. 18. It is meant to carry the government until at least Dec. 3, though the Treasury may be able to put off default for a short time beyond that.
It did not solve the underlying disagreement on how to raise the debt ceiling in the long term. Republicans say Democrats should do it via budget reconciliation while Democrats say they'll only do it as a bipartisan bill under regular order.
After a caustic floor speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Thursday night, Republicans say they will likely be more dug in come December and much less likely to bail Democrats out with some sort of short-term increase.
Meanwhile, Democrats say they are trying to get their massive reconciliation spending bill passed by the end of October -- something most observers say is very unlikely -- as well as the infrastructure bill.
Their efforts to pass those bills will likely bleed into November and possible December, at which point they may be swept up into the debt ceiling and government funding chaos and face an even tougher road forward.
A failure to pass either bill -- but especially the reconciliation bill Democrats say they plan to run on in 2022 -- would be a major blow to the president and his party.
So it's possible that Congress has set itself up for some intense days and long nights later this year when members would rather be home with their families.
Senators – including 11 Republicans -- voted to approve a short-term increase to the federal debt ceiling on Thursday night, ending a weekslong standoff on Capitol Hill. Sen Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Republicans dug themselves into a hole for ‘folding’ during an appearance on "Hannity" Thursday night.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., went viral Thursday night over his reaction to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s speech on the Senate floor shortly after the vote to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December.
Schumer, the Senate majority leader, used the platform to criticize Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for earlier comments about forcing Democrats to raise the debt ceiling without any Republican support—by going through a “drawn out, convoluted and risky reconciliation process.”
“That was simply unacceptable to my caucus,” Schumer said.
Manchin, who is perhaps the second most popular person in Washington, D.C. these days, was seated directly behind Schumer and could be seen shaking his head during the speech. He looks like a baseball manager sitting in a dugout after his team gives up the lead. Manchin appeared to be exasperated as Schumer continued talking. At one point, he could be seen putting his head into his hands and eventually getting up from his chair while his New York colleague continued.
Manchin’s office did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News about the Senator’s reaction.
Another video appeared to show Manchin walking out of the Capitol, saying that he hopes that both parties "de-weaponize." He said both sides were frustrated, "but that was not the way to take it out."
Former President Donald Trump told Fox News in an exclusive interview on Thursday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell must be replaced among caucus leadership, after the 79-year-old Kentuckian led 10 other Senate Republicans in giving Democrats enough votes to break the filibuster on a debt ceiling increase.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat, released the following statement late Thursday after the Senate passed a stopgap measure to address the debt limit:
“Due to the fact that Senate Republicans refused to advance House-passed legislation to responsibly raise the debt limit and chose to put the United States’ full faith and credit at risk, the Senate has passed a temporary, stopgap measure, and the House will be required to meet next week to act on this legislation. The Speaker and I have both spoken with Treasury Secretary Yellen, who said that if the House fails to act next week, the country will be unable to pay its bills. This cannot happen. Therefore, the House will convene on Tuesday, October 12, to pass this stopgap measure, and I expect we will complete our work that evening. It is egregious that our nation has been put in this spot, but we must take immediate action to address the debt limit and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States remains intact.”
Senators voted to approve a short-term increase to the federal debt ceiling on Thursday night, ending a weekslong standoff on Capitol Hill and likely averting a default that could have triggered a recession.
Senate Democrats passed the $480 billion increase by a simple majority vote of 50-48. The vote on the final measure occurred after 11 GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in a vote to invoke cloture, clearing the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
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