Democrats' new debt ceiling plan requires the participation of at least five 'reasonable' House Republicans. Don't assume they exist. (via MaddowBlog)
House Democrats on Tuesday pressed forward with a Plan B to raise the federal borrowing limit without any strings attached, as the Treasury Department warned the nation was inching closer to its first debt default in history. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sent a letter to colleagues informing them that Democrats are taking steps to give Congress another option to avert a debt default as President Joe Biden rejects demands by House Republicans for deep spending cuts.
“The filing of a debt ceiling measure to be brought up on the discharge calendar preserves an important option,” Jeffries wrote in his letter. “It is now time for MAGA Republicans to act in a bipartisan manner to pay America’s bills without extreme conditions.” In some circles, this has long been seen as the safety valve. Sure, radicalized House Republicans and the GOP leaders who do their bidding are threatening to impose a deliberate economic catastrophe unless their demands are met, but a discharge petition offers a way to work around them. If every House Democrat signs the measure — a scenario that’s fairly easy to believe — the minority party would simply need five pragmatic Republicans to partner with them.
At that point, the House could pass a clean debt ceiling bill — the kind GOP lawmakers have repeatedly supported during times of Republican administrations — effectively diffusing the default bomb. We could all then get on with our lives. The solution is so simple and obvious there have been a variety of reports in recent months that have described a discharge petition as the “
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