The U.S. House of Representatives voted to suspend the debt ceiling until December 2022, and the House of Representatives voted to send the debt ceiling and expedient expenditure bill to the Senate. Senate Republicans are expected to block the suspension of the debt ceiling.
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U.S. House of Representatives passes bill to avoid government shutdown and suspension of debt ceiling
The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday (September 21) local time that would prevent the government from shutting down and suspend the debt ceiling, thus taking a step towards preventing a possible economic disaster. The House of Representatives voted to send the debt ceiling and expedient spending bill to the Senate, but Republicans vowed to obstruct the bill on the debt ceiling clause in the Senate.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 220 to 212. All Democrats voted yes, and all Republicans opposed.
However, Senate Republicans threatened to increase the amount of the bill, which may make Democrats rush to find another way to avoid the failure of federal funds and even the first default of US debt. The U.S. stock market plummeted on Monday as the market worried that a default was about to happen and that the default might cause damage to the economy.
The US Congress must pass a funding plan by September 30 to prevent the government from shutting down. In addition, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders that the United States will use all possible means to continue paying bills in October.
The plan passed by the House of Representatives will allow the government to continue until December 3. The plan will also postpone the debt ceiling until December 2022.
The bill will also allocate US$28.6 billion for natural disaster relief and US$6.3 billion for resettling Afghan refugees.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Mitch McConnell) said that Republicans will vote for an independent appropriations bill, but will not support legislation with a debt ceiling moratorium.
Before the vote in the House of Representatives, Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Majority Party and Democrat of New York State, gave a speech. He warned Republicans that if the debt ceiling is not raised, it may cause serious damage to key government welfare such as the economy and social security.
Schumer said: “This is playing with fire. Playing games on the debt ceiling is playing with fire, putting the blame on the American people.”
Republicans vowed to block the proposal in the Senate. At present, Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Republican, has made it clear that he will vote against the proposal, which indicates that the proposal may fail in the Senate.
It is unclear how the Democrats will advance if the bill fails in the Senate.
The chairman of the House Budget Committee, John Yarmuth, said that Democrats can raise the debt ceiling on their own through the budget settlement process, but to do so requires a specific number, not just a time-bound suspension of the debt ceiling.
On September 19, local time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Ye London urged Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling of the United States. If the U.S. Congress does not quickly raise the federal government’s debt ceiling or suspend its effectiveness, the federal government may default on its debt in October this year and cause widespread “economic disaster.”
Yellen warned that the US government debt default is likely to trigger a “historical financial crisis”, which will exacerbate the economic damage caused by the new crown epidemic; debt defaults may also triggerinterest rateSoaring, sharp decline in stock prices and other financial turmoil.In addition, the current US economic recovery may be reversed into a recession, losing billions of dollars in economic growth.ChangheMillions of jobs.
Yellen published a commentary in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Congress, Raising the Debt Ceiling”. Yellen pointed out that the United States has never breached its contract, and it cannot breach its contract now.
On Friday, the White House warned that if the federal government defaults, state and local governments will face severe cuts.
Yellen said that since 1960, Congress has raised or suspended the debt ceiling about 80 times. During the Trump administration, Democrats agreed to the debt ceiling three times. Now Congress must do this again, otherwise at some point in October, the cash balance of the Treasury Department will fall to an insufficient level, the federal government will not be able to pay the bills, and the payment of government bills should not be a controversial issue. Delay (Payment) or breach of contract are intolerable.
According to data, the current accumulated debt of the United States is about 28.4 trillion US dollars.
The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of debt set by the US Congress for the federal government to meet the payment obligations that have been incurred. Reaching this “red line” means that the US Treasury Department has exhausted its borrowing authorization.
(Article Source: Interface News)
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