McConnell says Republicans will not help with raising debt limit
Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown
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Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, on Monday called out his Democratic colleagues for essentially pushing Republicans aside when it comes to legislation, and said his party will not come to their aid to raise the debt ceiling.
"Since Democrats decided to go it alone, they will not get Senate Republicans’ help with raising the debt limit," he said on the Senate floor on Monday. "I’ve explained this clearly and consistently for over two months. We do not have divided government. Democrats do not need our help. They have every tool to address the debt limit on their own."
McConnell’s comments upped the ante in the face-off between two parties and could mean the federal government runs out of cash. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that McConnell is not alone and many Republicans say they wouldn’t "supply any votes for an effort to raise the government’s borrowing limit in protest to Democrats’ plans to move trillions of dollars in new spending through Congress."
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Among the many issues opposed by Republicans is the push to include a pathway to citizenship in the multi-trillion-dollar reconciliation package. Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham seized on Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s ruling on Sunday against Democrats who want immigration added onto the bill.
Graham took to Twitter to praise the decision that he said "reinforced long held traditions of the Senate that major policy changes should be done collaboratively and not through the reconciliation process."
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Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday reportedly proposed a bill—to be voted on this week-- that would provide temporary funding for the government until December and suspend the debt limit until next year. USA Today reported that they both called Republicans irresponsible for not helping with the debt ceiling for a budget approved during the Trump administration.
Business Insider called the move by Pelosi and Schumer a "dare" to McConnell, who would need to lend 10 Republican votes for it to avert the filibuster and clear the Senate.
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"[Democrats] got the votes to keep us from defaulting, let's see what they do," Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking member in the Appropriations Committee, told the website.
The Associated Press contributed to this report