Senate GOP blocks bill that would fund government and suspend debt limit

[superadmin]

Senate GOP blocks bill that would fund government and suspend debt limit, as time runs short to avoid shutdown and default

• Senate Republicans blocked a House-passed bill that would prevent a government shutdown and a potential default on U.S. debt.
  
• Lawmakers have to pass an appropriations bill by Thursday to avoid a shutdown, and need to suspend or increase the debt limit sometime in the coming weeks to prevent a default.
  
• Democrats may be forced to suspend the debt limit on their own, potentially as part of their up to $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
  

Congress is running out of time to prevent a shutdown and a default.

Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a bill that would fund the government and suspend the U.S. debt ceiling, leaving Democrats scrambling to avoid a possible economic calamity.

The House-passed legislation would have funded the government into December and suspended the U.S. debt ceiling into December of next year, after the midterm congressional elections.

Lawmakers need to approve government funding before Friday to avoid a shutdown. The U.S. risks default if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by a point that is likely to come in October, according to the Treasury Department.

After every House Republican opposed the measure, the Senate GOP also refused to help Democrats suspend the debt limit. In a 48-50 vote, all Republican senators opposed advancing the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted no as a procedural move so he can bring up the bill again later.

Democrats now have to pull off a daunting series of maneuvers to avoid a sequence of events that could ravage the economy and cost millions of Americans their jobs. The Republican opposition may force them to pass a short-term funding bill with GOP support, then approve a debt limit suspension on their own — potentially as part of their up to $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation plan.

“The Republican Party has solidified itself as the party of default, and it will be the American people who pay the price,” Schumer said after the vote.

- More -