Senate GOP leaders have rejected a proposal moved by Democratic leaders in Congress to link a debt ceiling fix to a must-pass bill, the defense policy bill. Earlier senior Democratic leaders had discussed combining these two into a legislative vehicle.
Democratic leaders suggested that combining these into a single legislative entity would end the partisan conflict with Senate GOP leaders who have backed away from cooperating in the borrowing limit of the nation. Senate GOP leaders warned that such a move would only serve to endanger the annual defense policy bill.
Senate GOP Opposed To Increasing Debt Ceiling But Support Defense Bill
Senate GOP leader Joni Ernst of Iowa bluntly said that he wasn’t happy about the debt ceiling fix. He said that it would set a wrong precedent. The bill could pass, but there needs to be a debate on it and it was not the way to operate.
The maneuver to combine the debt limit fix and the annual defense policy bill comes even as the Senate Majority and Minority leaders, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell were quietly negotiating on the sidelines for a road forward to increasing the borrowing ceiling and put a stop to the catastrophic default that is looming for the federal government.
The government could hit the present debt ceiling by the middle of this month, the Treasury Department warned. According to the estimates of the Washington DC-based Bipartisan Policy Center, the default date comes somewhat between December 21 and January 28 next year.
Many Senate GOP leaders have argued that linking the debt ceiling to the defense bill would complicate issues. They said that they would to compelled to go for an unprecedented tough vote as there is widespread Senate GOP backing for the bill, while they strongly oppose suspending the debt ceiling.
Democrats have hinted that Mitch McConnell is privately supportive of attaching the two issues, while Senate GOP leaders also suggested that he might go along as they do not want to negatively impact the Defense bill.