McConnell faces GOP pushback on debt deal

BY JORDAIN CARNEY - * TheHill.com, 12/07/21 06:43 PM EST

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is facing pushback over a deal announced Tuesday by congressional leaders that paves the way for Democrats to sidestep a filibuster and raise the debt ceiling.

Under the agreement, the House and Senate will first pass a bill that prevents cuts to Medicare and also tees up a subsequent debt ceiling bill to pass by a simple majority in the Senate.

The legislation is expected to hit a procedural hurdle Thursday that will require 10 GOP members to help advance the debt deal. That will pave the way for a bill to increase the debt ceiling that Democrats can pass on their own.

But McConnell is sparking resistance within his own caucus both from conservatives, who raised concerns during a closed-door lunch, and GOP senators who previously helped advance a debt ceiling deal in October.

“There are always very diverse points of view within our conference on these types of issues,” Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, acknowledged when asked about the pushback at the lunch.

Republicans were describing the measure Tuesday as setting up a one-time exception to the filibuster. Though a GOP aide noted that the Senate routinely has a fast-track process for other issues like arms sales and trade deals, the debt agreement was drawing criticism from conservatives who don’t want to lift a finger to help Democrats extend the nation’s borrowing limit [....]

House approves bill to ease passage of debt limit hike

BY CRISTINA MARCOS AND MIKE LILLIS @TheHill.com, 12/07/21 09:39 PM EST

The House late Tuesday passed legislation that paves the way for Congress to raise the debt limit in the coming days — and prevent an unprecedented federal default — by allowing Democrats to circumvent a GOP filibuster in the Senate.

Lawmakers adopted the measure along party lines, 222-212, with just one Republican joining all Democrats in support, as part of a deal struck earlier in the day by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The highly contortionist procedural strategy will empower Senate Democrats to raise the debt ceiling in a subsequent bill without a single Republican vote while liberating GOP senators to oppose that increase in the Treasury’s borrowing authority — a toxic idea in some conservative circles, particularly under a Democratic president — without contributing to an economy-crushing government default.

Tuesday’s vote came just more than a week before a Dec. 15 deadline, when the Treasury Department has warned Congress it will exhaust its borrowing powers and be forced to skip some of its financial obligations. The procedural language allowing Democrats to raise the debt limit by a simple majority is part of a bill that also averts automatic cuts faced by physicians and other medical providers under Medicare.

It’s not quite a done deal yet, however, as the bill will still be subject to a Senate filibuster, requiring 60 votes to proceed.

McConnell expressed confidence on Tuesday that his party will deliver at least 10 votes when the bill comes to the Senate floor later this week. But it’s not yet clear how many GOP senators will agree to back the compromise negotiated by McConnell.

Some of McConnell’s closest GOP allies signaled they would back it, including the second-ranking Senate Republican, John Thune (S.D.), as well as Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Roy Blunt (Mo.). Yet at least two GOP of the 11 senators who helped advance the last debt ceiling agreement in October, Sens. Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Mike Rounds (S.D.), indicated on Tuesday that they would likely vote against the deal this week.

Still, Democratic leaders were confident that, with McConnell’s backing, the measure will easily clear the upper chamber.

“If Mitch and Cornyn and Blunt are on board, they'll get seven more,” predicted Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee.

For McConnell, the support marks the second time in recent months that he’s helped Democrats raise the debt ceiling, after vowing in no uncertain terms to refuse to do so.

Yarmuth, who’s known the Senate GOP leader for decades, said the reason was simple.

“He was in a box,” Yarmuth said.

“The fact that he essentially agreed to do a carve-out of the filibuster and then said he'd vote for it is a pretty big concession,” he added this week. But it’s not yet clear how many GOP senators will agree to back the compromise negotiated by McConnell

[....] CONTINUED AT LENGTH

Schumer tees up key Thursday vote on debt deal

BY JORDAIN CARNEY @ TheHill.com, 12/07/21 10:52 PM EST

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday night teed up a key vote on a deal struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to raise the debt ceiling with only Democratic votes.

Schumer, before wrapping up the Senate for the night, moved to tee up a vote expected on Thursday, absent a deal to speed things up, on the bill that would prevent cuts to Medicare and green lights the Senate bypassing the legislative filibuster on a subsequent debt ceiling bill.

The deal was unveiled by congressional leaders earlier Tuesday and passed the House on Tuesday night with only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), supporting it.

To get the bill, which lays out the instructions for how separate debt ceiling legislation will be considered, through the Senate, Schumer will need the support of at least 10 GOP senators. After that bill passes, Democrats will then be able to pass a stand-alone bill on raising the debt ceiling with a simple majority, meaning they won't need any GOP support.

McConnell, during a press conference with reporters, said that he was "confident" enough GOP senators would help advance the bill that sets up a one-time exemption for the filibuster on debt ceiling legislation.

"There are always differences of opinion among Republicans about how to handle a delicate issue like the debt ceiling. We'll be voting on it Thursday and I'm confident that this particular procedure coupled with the avoidance of Medicare cuts will achieve enough Republican support to clear the 60 vote threshold," he said.

"And then later, when the majority leader decides to have the procedure, it can all occur in one day and the actual debt ceiling vote will be done at a 51 vote threshold," he added [....]