Senate Democrats say they’ll agree to a proposal by Republicans to solve a debt limit impasse by extending the nation’s borrowing limit for only three months.
“We are willing to take this offer in order to stave off fiscal ruin,” Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters after the caucus huddled privately Wednesday.
Democrats aren’t happy with the plan.
MCCONNELL OFFERS SHORT-TERM DEBT LIMIT EXTENSION AMID STANDOFF WITH DEMOCRATS
They intended to pass legislation that would extend the debt ceiling until December 2022, but Republicans said they would not provide the necessary 10 votes to stave off a filibuster, citing a plan by Democrats to unilaterally pass a multitrillion-dollar social welfare spending package.
Facing an Oct. 18 deadline, McConnell issued a statement Wednesday proposing the three-month extension.
Democrats appear ready to vote for the plan, even though many don’t like it.
“We are all beside ourselves that the only thing Republicans are willing to do is prevent disaster for three months and put us right back in this position,” Murphy said, calling McConnell’s offer “nonsensical.”
But Democrats may have little choice but to accept the offer. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned that Congress must raise the debt limit by Oct. 18 or the nation will run out of money to pay bills and provide other essential payments, including Social Security checks.
Earlier Wednesday, Senate Republicans vowed to block a measure to raise the nation’s borrowing limit until December 2022, which the House passed last week.
Republicans and Democrats have been battling over a debt limit increase since Congress returned from a summer recess.
The legislation requires 60 votes to advance, and Republicans won’t provide the votes needed from their party for a long-term extension. Republicans are protesting a plan by Democrats to unilaterally pass a bill that would spend trillions of dollars on a social welfare spending package the GOP believes will blow up the debt and damage the economy.
McConnell said Wednesday his offer to extend a debt limit increase for three months will provide Democrats enough time to use a parliamentary procedure that will allow them to pass a debt limit increase without any GOP votes.
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But some Democrats viewed the offer as a victory for their own party, arguing it will allow them to focus on finding a deal on the massive social welfare spending package, which they hope to advance by the end of October.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters in the Capitol Wednesday, “McConnell caved.”
