Thune downplays raising debt limit in GOP budget bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed doubts about the GOP’s support for President Trump’s plan to raise the debt ceiling through the latest budget proposal, which includes defense spending and voter integrity funds.Thune cautioned that adding a debt limit lift would complicate passing the $95 billion budget framework via budget reconciliation and indicated it might be addressed after the November elections. Trump has lobbying efforts underway for a debt ceiling increase and has also urged Thune to stay in session to pass the House-approved SAVE America Act by terminating the filibuster. Thune highlighted that the lack of GOP support for voting and election bills is primarily due to Senate math rather than scheduling issues and emphasized that the filibuster will not be eliminated. he also noted the White House’s push for a broader budget process involving multiple committees to address the debt limit beyond existing proposals.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) raised doubts Tuesday on whether there was sufficient GOP support for President Donald Trump’s push to lift the debt ceiling through the latest party-line spending proposal.
Thune told reporters that adding a provision to lift the borrowing cap would complicate the already narrow math for passing the $95 billion budget framework, which includes new defense spending and money for voter integrity initiatives. Republicans want to pass the bill through budget reconciliation, a parliamentary procedure that allows some tax and spending measures to skirt the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.
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“It wasn’t contemplated in the House budget resolution that they passed,” said Thune. “That would be a whole new front in the conversation, which I don’t think anybody’s really contemplated it yet.”
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed last year by Republicans through reconciliation, raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Hiking the limit is always an arduous process, given opposition from fiscal hawks who demand spending cuts in exchange for their support.
Thune said adding a debt limit provision would inject uncertainty into the reconciliation effort, which is already expected to be difficult to pass before the November midterm elections. The majority leader, instead, floated the possibility of addressing the debt limit after the elections.
“I don’t think we hit it until mid-next year, or at least first or second quarter next year. But I know it’s something that a lot of people would like to address,” Thune said. “There’s always a possibility, obviously, post-November, too, to do something.”
Trump’s push for another debt ceiling increase is among the other items he’s lobbying the Senate GOP to tackle with its few remaining working days before the August recess.
Most notably, Trump is calling on Thune to forgo the break and stay in session to pass the House-approved SAVE America Act, which would require terminating the filibuster. The upper chamber lacks the Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster and the Republican votes to nix the 60-vote threshold.
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“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” Trump recently posted to Truth Social.
Thune reiterated that the lack of a pathway for the GOP’s voter ID and elections bill was due to Senate math, not scheduling.
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“I’m not sure I understand exactly — again — what the end game is. I’m willing to keep people here. I’m willing to be here if there’s a potential outcome or result that comes with it,” Thune said. “But as I said earlier, we could stay here till Christmas, and that we’re not flipping 10 Democrats to vote for the SAVE Act. It’s just a fact, and we’re not going to nuke the filibuster.”
He also noted that the White House is pushing to expand the House-passed budget bill beyond the debt limit, adding that “it’s gonna become a much more comprehensive process” that could involve “up to a dozen committees.”
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