House to vote next week on $28 trillion debtlimit

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House to vote next week on $28 trillion debtlimit

Bloomberg - The House will vote next week to raise the nation s $28 trillion debt ceiling, but a political standoff between Democrats and Republicans threatens to send the U.S. into a default in payments next month.

The Treasury Department warned that if Congress was not coming to help, the government could default sometime in October. Senate Republicans have said that Democrats should agree to bargain with the debt limit on their own and intend to vote against an increase in power. What would block the hearing under normal procedures, which require 60 votes in the Senate.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a scheduling notice Friday that the House would vote next week on a must-pass stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating past the 30th of the fiscal year, as well as the debt ceiling. Previously, no decision has been made on whether to include the debt ceiling provision in the other bill, said a Democratic aide.

The spending resolution would also include new money for the reconstruction of natural disasters and to process Afghan refugees, Hoyer said. Democrats are eyeing a stopgap to run through Dec. 3 according to a person familiar with the bill.

Democrats could bypass a Senate Republican filibuster by using a special fast track budget procedure, but have decided so far not to do so, insisting the burden of raising the ceiling must be on both parties. However, that date could change closer to the deadline.

The House will also vote on abortion-related legislation next week and annual defense policy, Hoyer said.

Hoyer said he plans to bring the $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill to the floor for a vote on July 27, making good on a commitment from House leaders to moderate Democrats. The House also plans to vote on President Joe Biden's version of the fiscal and spending proposal during the current work period, which ends Oct. 1, during the current work period.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could face a rebellion from progressives in her caucus during the vote on the infrastructure bill.

Progressives have demanded that the larger tax bill be passed totaling $3.5 billion and that it be enacted before the Infrastructure vote. Despite the remaining major differences in the caucus and with the Senate, there are significant working group work on the larger bill.