GOP Nixes New Democratic Move on Debt, With Oct. 18 Deadline Set
- Yellen says Treasury to run out of cash around Oct. 18
- Democrats say using reconciliation measure ‘non-starter’
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Republicans blocked a Democratic move in the Senate to raise the federal debt limit for the second time in as many days, escalating tensions less than three weeks before the U.S. Treasury potentially runs out of capacity to avert a federal payments default.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried and failed Tuesday to get unanimous consent in the Senate for raising the debt ceiling with a simple majority vote. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell objected, attempting to force Democrats to use an involved parliamentary procedure to raise the federal debt limit on their own and without any Republican assent to consider the move.