The U.S. government is 12 calendar days – or 7 scheduled congressional work days – from reaching the debt limit without a clear plan of what to do. GOP leaders are so far refusing to advance a ‘clean’ debt ceiling bill that both President Obama and Democrats would support. The problem there is that the GOP leadership can’t find the 30 Republican votes they would need to join with all 188 Democrats to pass such a proposal.
One option under discussion is a proposal from the conservative Republican Study Committee, which would require House committees to produce legislation to enact spending cuts contained in the budget resolution – basically a series of cuts to equal the amount raised for the debt ceiling. This type of measure is unlikely to get a vote and even if it did, the President and Senate Democrats would block its passage. They are insisting on a ‘clean’ debt ceiling increase or suspension.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has estimated that he would exhaust “extraordinary measures” to extend the government’s borrowing authority by November 3, 2015.
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