The House Tuesday approved a bill to raise the debt ceiling for two months, likely queuing up another political battle in December.
The measure lifts the debt limit by $480 billion, to nearly $28.9 trillion, and ensures that the U.S. can continue to pay its bills through early December and maybe through early 2022. Economists had warned that failure to do so would lead to economic disaster, likely plunging the U.S. into a recession.
The Senate passed the legislation last week after Republicans agreed to not filibuster the measure. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Republicans are unlikely to support lifting the debt ceiling when the next debate comes around and wants Democrats to lift it through the budget reconciliation process.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month told lawmakers that the U.S. was poised to default after Oct. 18 if the ceiling wasn't lifted or suspended.
Along with the expiration of the debt limit, Congress faces an Oct. 31 deadline for surface transportation programs while stopgap government funding expires on Dec. 3. Democrats have said they hope to reach agreement by the end of October on reconciliation and bipartisan infrastructure bills.
In a press conference Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Congress could avoid the political battle over the debt limit by handing control over to the Treasury secretary, who would make the decision.
“That decision could be overruled by Congress” with 60 votes, Pelosi said. “That seems to have some appeal to both sides of the aisle because of the consequences of not lifting [the ceiling].”
Pelosi also said that cutting the size of the reconciliation bill, which includes several key municipal market priorities, may be done first through trimming duration as opposed to slicing out entire programs. She said she hopes Democrats will start to agree on the cuts within the next few days.
