House passes workaround to move forward on raising the debt ceiling

House passes workaround to move forward on raising the debt ceiling-politico: The House passed a bill Tuesday night to expedite a debt ceiling fix in the Senate, allowing Democrats to essentially raise the nation’s credit limit on their own and thwart a Christmastime default.

Democrats, Republicans agree to short-term debt limit increase

Democrats, Republicans agree to short-term debt limit increase-rollcall: Senate leaders reached a bipartisan agreement Wednesday to defuse the impending debt limit crisis by allowing for a short-term increase in the statutory borrowing cap while lawmakers negotiate a longer-term solution.

Biden plots debt ceiling blitz to focus the blame on McConnell

Biden plots debt ceiling blitz to focus the blame on McConnell-politico:  After months of playing it cool on the debt ceiling, the White House has quickly begun to turn the screws on Republicans in an attempt to shift blame for the financial brinkmanship squarely onto Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Debt ceiling bill stalls again in Senate as pressure grows

Debt ceiling bill stalls again in Senate as pressure grows-rollcall: Senate Democrats on Tuesday began preparing to pass a stopgap funding measure to keep the government running separately from a debt limit suspension, after Republicans blocked the latter for the second time in as many days.

Dems seek to ‘avoid a shutdown, at all costs’ as GOP picks debt fight

Dems seek to ‘avoid a shutdown, at all costs’ as GOP picks debt fight-politico: Democrats want to bludgeon the GOP over its debt ceiling intransigence as much as they can — though not necessarily hard enough to shut the government down next week.

Debt limit options narrowing, 14th Amendment chatter returns

Debt limit options narrowing, 14th Amendment chatter returns-rollcall: Call it the “in case of emergency, break glass” option: The president invokes the Civil War-era 14th Amendment to the Constitution to ignore the statutory debt limit and continue to borrow if lawmakers can’t agree to give the Treasury Department more borrowing room.

Mnuchin says deal reached on overall spending levels

Mnuchin says deal reached on overall spending levels-politico: The Trump administration and congressional leaders have “reached an agreement“ on overall spending levels in a two-year deal to raise the budget caps, in addition to settling on a two-year debt limit increase, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday morning.

Mnuchin: Parties moving closer on debt limit, spending caps

Mnuchin: Parties moving closer on debt limit, spending caps-rollcall: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that White House and congressional leaders are “getting closer” to a deal that would raise austere spending caps as well as the statutory debt ceiling. Mnuchin told reporters at a briefing on cryptocurrency regulation that he planned to speak with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, later Monday. The two have been having regular conversations since last week, including a Saturday phone call.

High anxiety hits Senate over raising debt ceiling

High anxiety hits Senate over raising debt ceiling-thehill: Senators are growing anxious that they might have to vote to raise the nation’s debt ceiling in a matter of weeks given new estimates that the government could hit its borrowing limit earlier than expected. The debt limit was exceeded earlier this year, and the Treasury Department is now taking steps known as “extraordinary measures” to prevent the government from going over its borrowing limit.

Debt Ceiling Crunch Will Come in Early March, CBO Says

Debt Ceiling Crunch Will Come in Early March, CBO Says-rollcall: The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday said the Treasury Department might make it into the first half of March before running out of cash to pay its bills, or a little later than the date announced by Treasury earlier in the day.

Why Most House Republicans Voted for a Deal They Loathed

Why Most House Republicans Voted for a Deal They Loathed-rollcall: Most House Republicans griped about the fiscal package they were forced to vote on Friday, but ultimately, a relatively small portion of the conference was willing to vote against it.

Congress Is Broken, and Staff Members Know Why

Congress Is Broken, and Staff Members Know Why-rollcall: Members of Congress will return in September to a glut of complex and technically challenging tasks, including tax policy, the debt ceiling, and Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Debt Ceiling Options Aired but Fast Action Doubtful

Debt Ceiling Options Aired but Fast Action Doubtful-rollcall: Senate leaders are searching for a path forward to raise the debt ceiling, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday, but action before the August recess appears very unlikely.

Senate Looks Ahead to Tax, Debt Limit Debates After Recess

Senate Looks Ahead to Tax, Debt Limit Debates After Recess-rollcall: Tuesday might not be the last time the Senate leaders address reporters before departing for August recess, but their messages were already setting the stage for September.

GOP debt ceiling uncertainty grows

GOP debt ceiling uncertainty grows-thehill: Congressional Republicans are uncertain about the best path forward now that the deadline for increasing the nation’s debt ceiling is approaching faster than expected.

Debt fight blindsides Congress

Debt fight blindsides Congress-politico: President Donald Trump’s top economic aides are urging Capitol Hill leaders to raise the debt ceiling by the end of July. And Congress is totally unprepared to do so.

Debt Ceiling Deadline Falls in Trump’s First 100 Days but Fix May Not

Debt Ceiling Deadline Falls in Trump’s First 100 Days but Fix May Not-rollcall: As Republicans about to have unified control of the government ready their 100-day agenda, one thing is notably missing: a plan for addressing the government’s borrowing authority when the current debt limit suspension expires on March 15.

5 Things to Watch in the House This Week

5 Things to Watch in the House This Week-rollcall: Any other week, a rare, mid-session speaker election might be the only news of note in the House, but a confluence of legislative deadlines and a corresponding race for the Ways and Means gavel make for a hectic atmosphere in Speaker John A. Boehner’s final week in Congress.

Conservative Debt Limit Plan Shelved

Conservative Debt Limit Plan Shelved-thehill: Speaker John A. Boehner said he hoped to raise the debt limit before he resigns from Congress, but he’s running out of time to meet the Nov. 3 deadline in advance of his scheduled Oct. 30 departure.  The Ohio Republican has five more legislative days to avoid a federal government default before the politically messy task falls to his successor.

Debt Limit, Highways Wait as Republicans Tackle Sanctuary Cities

Debt Limit, Highways Wait as Republicans Tackle Sanctuary Cities-rollcall: Senators return to Washington this week facing a crush of must-pass legislation, but before the chamber can get to the debt limit or highway funding, Republicans want to express outrage over “sanctuary cities.”