House rushes debt ceiling vote

The fiscal year ends at midnight, Sept. 30—a week from Thursday. Unless Congress passes funding legislation, the government might shut down on Oct. 1. House Democrats pulled together a stopgap bill to fund the government through Dec. 3, suspend the debt limit through next year, and provide billions in disaster and refugee aid.  It passed along party lines on Tuesday. The bill will need 10 Republican votes in the Senate to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster. Senate Democrats could try to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill with a simple majority, but they would rather it pass with a bipartisan vote. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the GOP would not support paying past debts when the Biden administration is about to add more through the $3.5 trillion infrastructure package. 

What is going on with the debt ceiling? Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Congress to raise the U.S. debt limit, the maximum amount the government can borrow. Congress previously suspended the limit in 2019, but that suspension expired in July. The Treasury Department has been using emergency measures to pay debts since then. Even if the bill successfully suspends the debt ceiling, the Treasury risks running out of money as soon as mid-October and defaulting on payments. The current debt limit stands at $28.4 trillion.

Dig deeper: Read Esther Eaton’s report in The Stew about the tax hikes Democrats hope will fund the infrastructure bill.