To curb spending spree, Senate GOP blocks key bill

The fiscal year ends on Thursday, and without a new funding bill in place, the government will partially shut down. Many Republicans say they’re on board with passing a bill to avoid that, but they don’t support raising the U.S. borrowing limit at the same time. GOP senators blocked a Democratic bill on Monday night that paired the two issues. 

Why don’t they want to raise the debt ceiling? “There’s no chance Republicans will help lift Democrats’ credit limit so they can immediately steamroll through a socialist binge that will hurt families and help China,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He was referring to a $3.5 trillion spending bill that Democrats are planning to pass using the budget reconciliation process, which allows them to avoid a filibuster. They could use the same process to lift the debt ceiling on their own without a single GOP vote. McConnell said if Democrats are planning a historic spending spree, that’s exactly what they will have to do.

Dig deeper: Read Joel Belz’s column from earlier this year about government excess.