Democrat senator fears GOP lacks votes for debt limit deal.

Senate Democrat Warns of Possible Delay in Debt Ceiling Deal

“My worry is, there may still not be enough Republicans in the House to get this deal done,”

– Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Sen. Murphy has raised concerns that the Republicans may not have enough votes to pass the debt ceiling deal in time. He pointed out that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had difficulty locking down the gavel earlier this year and emphasized that the process could become time-consuming as the country approaches the June 5 “X-date.”

Already, some congressional Republicans have signaled opposition to the measure, contending that the party didn’t get enough of what it wanted, particularly in terms of spending rollbacks. Sen. Murphy stressed that he will “reserve judgment” until he’s read the legislation, which is expected to be released within the coming hours.

Playing with Fire

Sen. Murphy warned that if Republicans use all of the procedural tactics at their disposal, it could take at least 3 to 4 days to get the deal through the House of Representatives and up to a week to pass it. This could result in a default on American debt, something the country would never recover from. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has projected that the government could run out of cash to meet all its obligations as soon as June 5.

“I think there’s this whole big swath of the Republican Party that actually wants us to default,” Sen. Murphy said.

The Agreement

The agreement is expected to lift the debt limit until 2025 in exchange for rescinding unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds, substantially curbing spending growth, more stringent work requirements for social programs, and more. Speaker McCarthy has vowed to give his members at least 72 hours to parse through the text of the bill once it’s finalized.

• Sen. Murphy highlighted Speaker McCarthy’s past difficulty at locking down the gavel earlier this year.
• A handful of congressional Republicans have signaled opposition to the measure.
• Sen. Murphy warned that if Republicans use all of the procedural tactics at their disposal, it could result in a default on American debt.
• The agreement is expected to lift the debt limit until 2025 in exchange for various measures.

It remains to be seen whether the Republicans will be able to pass the debt ceiling deal in time, but the stakes are high, and the consequences of failure could be catastrophic.