Senate Republicans blocked a House-passed bill on Monday that would have averted a government shutdown as well as an unprecedented default on U.S. debt holdings that could roil financial markets and disrupt basic government operations. But Senate Republicans have refused to back an increase to the debt ceiling despite helping to rack up trillions of dollars in debt under the previous administration. Amending the bill to include a debt limit hike may take a few weeks due to procedural rules in the Senate and likely GOP objections that could slow the process down even further. “Our staff research shows that it is very risky to try and amend our existing budget reconciliation bill,” Yarmuth told HuffPost. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said it would only take a week to add the debt ceiling to the budget.

Source: Huffington Post September 27, 2021 16:44 UTC