House Passes Legislation to Pave Way for Debt Ceiling IncreaseNY Times, Dec 7, 2021
WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation on Tuesday that would pave the way for a swift increase in the debt ceiling amid a Republican blockade, after congressional leaders in both parties agreed to try an unusual maneuver that could avert the threat of a first-ever federal default.
The 222-to-212 vote came after days of quiet bipartisan talks to resolve the stalemate culminated in a deal. Only one House Republican, Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, joined Democrats in voting in favor of the measure, demanding that the party in charge of both congressional chambers and the White House address the government’s ability to borrow.
Its passage was not guaranteed in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have for weeks refused to let Democrats take up any bill to provide a long-term increase. But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, signaled confidence that enough of his colleagues could accept the solution.
The Treasury Department has said that it could breach the statutory limit on its ability to borrow to finance the federal government’s obligations soon after Dec. 15 without congressional action. That would lead to a catastrophic default that would wreak havoc on the U.S. and global economies.
The measure would create a special pathway — to be used only once, before mid-January — for the Senate to raise the debt limit by a specific amount with a simple majority vote, allowing Democrats to steer clear of a filibuster or other procedural hurdles so that Republicans would have no means to block it.
Democrats are likely to choose a number that would keep the government from reaching the new debt ceiling before the midterm elections next year, but senior aides familiar with the talks did not immediately provide an amount. One Treasury estimate suggested that it could be as much as $2.5 trillion to keep paying its bills through the midterms, according to a person familiar with the preliminary accounting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/us/politics/debt-ceiling-deal-congress.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
