Ultimately, it may only be a semantic difference as chatter grows about a potential deal involving spending cuts, reclaimed COVID funds, and energy-permitting reforms. In 2021, for example, Senate Republicans created a special exemption to filibuster rules that allowed Democrats to lift the debt ceiling by a simple majority vote – without any spending cuts. To keep the debt limit off the table until after the 2024 presidential election would likely take the biggest single debt limit hike ever. House Republicans approved a bill that gutted the program while raising the debt ceiling, which Democrats consider a nonstarter. “The president’s position is we’ve got to raise the debt ceiling,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told HuffPost.

Source: Huffington Post May 12, 2023 18:03 UTC