The Senate is on track to vote on Tuesday to raise the national debt limit as lawmakers race to avert a catastrophic default ahead of a critical mid-week deadline.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the debt limit could be reached on December 15, leaving Congress little time left to resolve the issue. Once the Senate takes action, the House will next have to approve the same legislation before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. A first-ever default would spark economic disaster and party leaders on both sides of the aisle have made clear it must be prevented.
Republicans, however, have insisted that Democrats should take responsibility for raising the limit and do it on their own. In response to that demand from Republicans, Congress passed legislation last week to create a fast-track process that will allow Democrats to raise the debt limit on their own in the Senate without help from Republicans.
The newly created and temporary one-time process will allow Senate Democrats to take up and pass a bill to increase the debt limit by a specific dollar amount and a simple majority vote — or 51 votes if all senators are present and voting. Senate Democrats control 50 seats in the chamber and Vice President Kamala Harris can break tie votes.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Monday that the vote to raise the debt limit will take place on Tuesday.
“Last week, we advanced bipartisan legislation that will enable this chamber to address the debt ceiling on a fast-track basis. For the information of all, the Senate will act tomorrow to prevent default,” he said.
It is not yet clear to what dollar amount Senate Democrats will raise the limit, as they have not yet publicly announced it or unveiled legislative text. It is expected, however, that it will be raised by an amount sufficient to ensure that the issue will not need to be addressed again until after the 2022 midterm elections.
