Biden-McCarthy debt limit deal to face new obstacles in Senate as looming deadline closes in
The Senate is struggling to reach an arrangement to allow for swift passage of the Biden-McCarthy debt limit deal before next week’s default deadline.
The legislation, which would suspend the debt ceiling until January 2025 and institute spending caps, was expected to clear the House Wednesday night.
An agreement is needed among all 100 senators to speed up the process in the Senate, where every single member wields the power to force the chamber to run out the procedural clock and blow past the Monday deadline. That’s when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U.S. government will not be able to pay all its obligations without more borrowing above the current $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has refused to meet the Republicans’ demand for roll call votes on amendments before they agree to fast-track the bill.
“We are going to do everything we can to move the bill quickly, and we cannot send anything back to the House. Plain and simple,” Mr. Schumer told reporters at the Capitol.
Any changes to the legislation would send it back to the House for another vote, all but ensuring the U.S. would fail to lift the debt limit before Monday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, wants Democrats to allow at least some amendment votes for conservatives in his conference who say that is the only way they will greenlight speedy passage, though any amendment would likely fail.
“What I hope happens is that those who have amendment votes will yield back time so that we can finish this Thursday or Friday and soothe the country and soothe the markets,” Mr. McConnell said.
A sizable faction of GOP senators who are hardline conservatives is expected to oppose the bipartisan deal, despite Mr. McConnell and other Republicans advocating for it.
The chamber is all too familiar with the timing snafu. The Senate regularly goes until the 11th hour against hard deadlines, such as avoiding government shutdowns, before getting the job done.
GOP senators seeking amendments say the ball is in Mr. Schumer’s court, arguing that all they want are roll call votes — that are almost certain to fail — to offer constituents a voice in a federal process that’s been largely controlled by a handful of individuals in Washington.
“I don’t have any desire to hold it up for the sake of holding it up,” said Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who has threatened to slow down procedures. “If [Democrats] will allow us to get votes on our amendments, I see no reason to hold it up.”
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Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who like Mr. Lee frequently capitalizes on deadline-induced leverage, is also seeking a vote on his version of a debt ceiling increase with far stricter spending cuts.
The bipartisan bill suspends the debt ceiling until after the 2024 election and includes annual spending caps for the next six years, but lacks enforcement mechanisms after the first two years.
A provision for 1% across-the-board budget cuts, if Congress fails to meet its annual fiscal year deadline to pass a federal budget, is a common denominator causing heartburn among senators from both parties. The last time Congress completed all their appropriations bills on time was 1996, according to Senate Budget Committee Republicans.
Another hurdle for Mr. Schumer is coming from one of his own.
Sen. Tim Kaine, the mild-mannered Virginia Democrat, unleashed on the White House for what he characterized as getting blindsided on the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in the debt limit bill.
The long-stalled, $6.6 billion natural-gas project is set to run 303 miles from northern West Virginia through southern Virginia.
Mr. Kaine said that if Republicans get amendment votes, his provision to strip the project from the debt agreement must, too. He suggested the White House was attempting to protect West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, a longtime Mountain Valley advocate who is one of Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbents up for reelection.
“I want Joe Manchin to do well, but I mean, this is a Virginia project, and they didn’t even bother to pick up the phone and call me. Have I made them mad? No, I’m the one they call to try and get Cabinet secretaries confirmed,” Mr. Kaine told reporters. “I think I’m entitled to an amendment on this, particularly. Look, if I get screwed by putting this thing in and then we get amendments only on Republican amendments.”
Still, many Democrats and Republicans — including those against the debt ceiling bill — said they have little desire to drag out the inevitable. Many lawmakers were optimistic the Senate will narrowly avert the Monday deadline by passing the measure sometime between Friday and Sunday.
“I don’t see a reason to drag this out,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican who opposes the deal.
