Manchin backs raising debt ceiling with reconciliation if GOP balks
By Jordain Carney - 10/26/21 09:50 AM EDT
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Democrats should use arcane budget rules to raise the debt ceiling if they can't get a deal with Republicans.
Manchin, speaking at an Economic Club of Washington, D.C., event, first floated that the debt ceiling could be raised through the 14th Amendment, which says the public debt "shall not be questioned."
"The debt limit should be the 14th Amendment. The president has the right to make that decision. We have the right to override if we think he went too far. That to me is the simplest," Manchin said at the event.
But Manchin added that if Democrats can't get GOP support for that idea, then Democrats should use arcane budget rules known as reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling.
"If we can't do it, and they don't agree on that, Democrats have the responsibility, being the majority party right now, to do it through reconciliation," Manchin said.
Manchin's comments come after Congress approved a short-term debt limit hike that raises the nation's borrowing limit through roughly Dec. 3.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/578443-manchin-backs-raising-debt-ceiling-with-reconciliation-if-gop-balks
