This afternoon, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled a proposal that is a stunning attempt to beam himself out of the debt ceiling fight. Under the proposal, Congress would give President Obama the authority to raise the debt limit without cutting spending by a combined total of $2.5 trillion, while needing the support of just over one-third of the House and Senate.
The way it would work would be that three times before now and next summer, Obama would make a request to Congress to raise the debt limit, and he’d have to offer a plan to cut spending by a higher amount. Both chambers of Congress would then automatically consider a resolution to disapprove of Obama’s request. If that resolution passes — i.e. if Congress votes to reject Obama’s request — then Obama could veto it. Because it takes a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a veto, that means just 34 Senators or 146 House members would be needed to sustain it and thus raise the debt ceiling.
