'The leader's statements on debt ceiling are shameless, cynical and totally political,' said Senate Majority Leader Check Schumer.
It is not unusual for the political party out of power in the White House to threaten to oppose a debt ceiling increase as leverage to exact budget concessions.'s multitrillion-dollar proposals for bolstering federal domestic spending and raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for it.
Congress suspended the debt ceiling—the limit on federal borrowing—two years ago, but that suspension expires July 31. The Treasury Department can free up cash for short periods using accounting maneuvers, but it is unclear when it would exhaust that option. Some have suggested the government could run out of money during August, whenis scheduled to be on recess. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday the crunch is likely to come in October or November.
To overcome a Senate GOP filibuster of legislation raising the debt limit, the chamber's 50 Democrats would need support from 10 Republicans, which McConnell suggested will not be there. On Tuesday, McConnell said,"I can't imagine a single Republican in this environment that we're in now, this free-for-all for taxes and spending, to vote to raise the debt limit." McConnell confirmed those remarks Wednesday to the Associated Press, a day after making them to Punchbowl News, a publication that covers Capitol Hill and politics.
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