Democrats Expected to Tie Debt Limit Increase to Spending Bill

Democrats in Congress announced yesterday that they plan to attach a suspension of the debt limit to a must-pass spending bill to keep the government funded. Should Republicans choose to vote no on the bill, it could trigger a major shutdown as they have not been willing to budge and have repeatedly said they will not vote to raise the debt limit. In a joint statement released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer they said “the legislation to avoid a government shutdown will also include a suspension of the debt limit through December 2022 to once again meet our obligations and protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”

The house is expected to vote on the must-pass spending bill today and the vote will be a test to see if Republicans are willing to vote to shut down the government. The house will take up the bill before the September 30th deadline and also take action on the debt limit since Congress may have until mid-October to act before the federal government can no longer pay it’s bills.