House Democrats aren’t planning to include a measure raising the U.S. debt ceiling as part of President Joe Biden’s estimated $1.75 trillion tax-and-social-spending bill, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said, Bloomberg News reported. The stance would remove one avenue for averting a showdown with Republicans over the debt ceiling in the coming months that could lead to the U.S. missing payments to workers, beneficiaries or bondholders. Republicans led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have vowed not to cooperate on another short-term debt-ceiling suspension as they did last month and say Democrats must raise the limit on their own given their significant spending plans. Adding a debt-ceiling increase to the Biden bill, which may see a House vote this week, could have resolved any uncertainty over a potential U.S. payment default sometime between December and February. Under Senate rules, the budget reconciliation vehicle that Democrats are using to advance Biden’s economic agenda could also be used to raise the debt ceiling. Addressing the issue in this way would let Democrats, if they stay unified, pass the measure without any Republican votes and avoid a GOP filibuster.
