Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill that would both fund the government and raise the country’s borrowing limit, escalating a political showdown over the government’s finances just days before it runs out of money, the Wall Street Journal reported. Senate Democrats sought to pass a House-approved stopgap measure that funds the government through Dec. 3, 2021, and suspends the debt limit through Dec. 16, 2022. They are racing to send the legislation to President Biden’s desk before the government’s current funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1. While lawmakers in both parties negotiated the short-term government funding, Republicans voted against Monday’s procedural motion in a bid to force Democrats to address the debt limit themselves. With 48 in favor and 50 opposed, the legislation fell short of the 60 votes required to advance in the evenly split chamber. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has notified lawmakers that the government may be unable to keep paying its bills on time as early as next month if Congress doesn’t authorize additional borrowing. The failure of the procedural vote Monday could prompt Democrats to decouple the short-term spending measure and the debt-limit vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested last week that Democrats would do so, saying that Congress would pass a stopgap spending measure before the end of the month to keep the government funded. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said yesterday that Republicans would support the funding measure independent of a debt-ceiling vote. Senate Republicans have almost unanimously lined up against voting to raise the debt ceiling, as a protest against Democrats’ agenda, including the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill Democrats approved earlier this year and the broader $3.5 trillion education, child care, healthcare and climate bill they are now working on.
