Biden calls for Senate to vote on debt limit increase this week

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden called Monday for a Senate vote this week on raising the country’s debt limit, saying opposition from Republicans could create “a self-inflicted wound that takes our economy over a cliff.”

“A meteor is headed to crash into our economy,” Biden said. He told Republicans: “Just get out of the way, so you don’t destroy it.”

Biden said he couldn’t guarantee the United States would avoid default. He said the decision will depend on Republican cooperation from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow Democrats to vote.

“No, I can’t. That’s up to Mitch McConnell,” Biden said in response to a question. “I can’t believe that that will be the end result because the consequence is so dire.”

Biden said raising the debt limit is about paying off old debts, not his new proposals such as the $3.5 trillion package of social welfare programs and infrastructure legislation with $550 billion in new spending.

“We always pay what we owe,” Biden said. “It’s rock solid. It’s the best in the world.”

But Biden said Republicans refused to allow Democrats to cover old debts, including $8 trillion run up during the Trump administration.

“They need to stop playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy,” Biden said.

The Senate is debating a bill to increase the debt limit that the House has already approved. Biden said approval is urgent, before the country’s borrowing authority is exhausted in mid-October, because financial markets could panic, reducing the value of investments such as retirement savings and raising interest rates on borrowing.

“That’s the only way to eliminate the uncertainty and risk that’s going to harm American families and the economy,” Biden said. “Let us vote and end the mess.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told senators Monday he hopes to approve legislation raising the debt limit this week. 

But McConnell warned Biden in a letter Monday that Democrats are “sleepwalking” toward economic catastrophe by pursuing a stand-alone bill that Republicans oppose.

Biden said he planned to talk to McConnell about his letter.

Democrats voted 50-43 on Thursday to begin debating a House-approved suspension in the debt limit until Dec. 16, 2022. But Republicans could still filibuster a final approval, which would require 60 votes.

McConnell, R-Ky., has suggested Democrats will have to add a debt limit provision to Biden’s $3.5 trillion of social welfare priorities, which Democrats want to pass without Republican support by using a procedure that avoids a filibuster.

But Democrats have resisted that strategy, which would complicate negotiations over the spending measure and would attach a specific figure to the debt limit rather than simply suspend the limit for a period of time.

“It’s a very cumbersome, difficult process,” Biden said.

More:What happens if the government runs out of money? How debt ceiling crisis could impact your finances

The debate over the debt limit comes as Democrats negotiate how to reduce the price tag on the $3.5 trillion package and vote in the House on pending infrastructure legislation with $550 billion in new spending.

Schumer said a compromise on the broader spending package could come “preferably within a matter of days, not weeks.”

Both sides agree the debt limit must be raised to avoid the country defaulting on its credit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the country will exhaust its credit limit by Oct. 18; Schumer said raising the limit must come sooner to calm financial markets.

More:Why does the federal debt limit matter? Here’s what America’s debt actually looks like

“Let me be clear about the task ahead of us: we must get a bill to the president’s desk dealing with the debt limit by the end of the week. Period,” Schumer said. “We do not have the luxury of waiting until October 18th, as it is our responsibility to reassure the world that the United States meets our obligations in a timely fashion and that the full faith and credit of the United States should never be in question.”

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