It’s only Tuesday, but it’s already been a busy week in debt ceiling developments.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. may need to raise the debt ceiling by as early as June 1 to avoid default, kicking off a renewed scramble among decionmakers.
President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to meet on the topic next week. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) floated a cumbersome maneuver to force a vote in the chamber.
Biden and McCarthy agreed to meet on May 9 to discuss the debt limit. The two camps have so far been at an impasse over whether raising the debt ceiling will be tied to spending cuts, as many House Republicans — including McCarthy — have demanded. Jeffries and the Senate leaders were also invited.
Jeffries said in a Dear Colleague letter Tuesday that Democrats had put in motion an option to force a vote on raising the debt limit via a discharge petition. He said Democrats could use a legislative vehicle introduced in January and a “special rule” that Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, introduced Tuesday.
“The discharge petition — an obscure mechanism empowering 218 lawmakers to pass bills the Speaker refuses to consider — is almost never successful, because it requires members of the ruling party to defy their own leadership,” The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell wrote.
Democrats need five House Republicans to get on board to reach 218.
More from Lillis and Schnell: “The next step in the process is filing a discharge petition, which will start the signature-gathering process. The petition, however, cannot be filed for seven legislative days after the special rule is introduced, meaning the earliest signatures can begin to be collected is on May 16.”
Learn more about the discharge process here
