Government avoids shutdown, on McConnell’s terms, but debt standoff remains
The federal government averted a shutdown on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate voting to fund the government for two more months.
And Mitch McConnell wants you to know this meager accomplishment was on his terms.
Democrats had sought to pair a debt ceiling increase with the vote to continue funding government programs, but McConnell balked, refusing to lend Majority Leader Chuck Schumer any GOP votes for his 2-for-1 package.
Instead, Schumer acceded to McConnell’s demand for a so-called “clean” continuing resolution, underlining the power the Kentuckian continues to hold in a 50-50 Senate.
“The Democratic majority has begun to realize that the way forward on basic governing duties matches the road map that Republicans have been laying out for months,” McConnell said before the Senate vote on Thursday. “On government funding, what Republicans laid out all along was a clean, continuing resolution without the poison pill of a debt limit increase.”
Still, while McConnell approved the stopgap measure, the 65-35 Senate tally only included 15 Republican votes. It needed 60 for passage.
Sen. Rand Paul, who has a reputation of delaying spending bills did not launch a filibuster against this one, but voted against it.
The House acted shortly after, passing it 254-175.
“The conclusion to draw from this week is very clear: Clumsy efforts at partisan jams do not work. What works is when the majority accepts reality,” McConnell crowed.
The resolution will keep agencies from running out of money at midnight Friday. It also provides money to support the resettlement of Afghan refugees following the end of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and emergency disaster relief for hurricane ravaged Louisiana.
While Schumer blinked in this initial fall standoff with McConnell, the thornier question of the nation’s borrowing limit remains unresolved, with both sides dug in.
“Just as our Republican colleagues realize that a government shutdown would be catastrophic, they should realize that a default on the national debt would be even worse,” Schumer said.
Schumer is now asking Republicans to grant what McConnell originally wanted: For Democrats and Democrats alone to raise the debt ceiling, without GOP votes.
But McConnell has refused to grant consent to the quick fix, instead forcing Schumer to use the reconciliation process that will take longer to complete.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin has said Congress must raise the debt ceiling by Oct. 18 in order for America to avoid defaulting for the first time in history.
“We cannot afford the risk of a drawn-out, unpredictable process sought by the Minority Leader, which could very well actually cause a default,” Schumer warned, repeatedly rejecting the reconciliation route on the debt ceiling, calling it “very, very risky” and “a non-starter.”
But having watched Schumer back down on government funding, McConnell may be emboldened to take him to the brink on how to raise the debt.
“We’re able to fund the government today because the majority accepted reality. The same thing will need to happen on the debt limit next,” McConnell said.
Business leaders have been lobbying congressional leadership to avoid a default at all costs, especially given the fragile economic recovery coming out of the pandemic.
“An even greater threat than Covid is government instability,” said Thomas Penny, the president of Donohoe Hospitality Services, which operates hotels in the D.C. area.
While Penny is confident Congress will avoid a default he added, “the question is what it will look like.”
Lawmakers have about 18 days to figure that out.
