White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that President Biden expects Congress to lift the legal limit on the federal debt despite a looming battle with Republicans over spending.
During a Monday White House briefing, Psaki told reporters that Biden believes lawmakers will once again prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, after legislators raised or suspended the debt ceiling three times under former President Trump.
“The president believes that Congress will do what they’ve done three times during the Trump administration, which is to raise the debt ceiling,” Psaki said.
“We know that that will be a central focus and discussion, probably even in here, come the fall, but he expects they will do what they’ve done three times [under Trump].”
The legal limit on how much debt the U.S. government can hold is set to kick back in on Aug. 1, giving Biden and Congress less than two months to either raise or suspend the debt ceiling.
Republican lawmakers agreed to lift the debt ceiling three times under Trump but have warned Democrats that they will not do so again unless Democrats agree to spending cuts or other debt reduction measures.
“I’d say it’s unlikely,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, when asked if there are enough Republicans who support raising the debt ceiling.
Democrats should have little trouble passing a debt ceiling hike or suspension through the House, which is controlled by Democrats and can pass legislation with a simple majority. But Republicans could still block the measure in the Senate unless at least 10 GOP senators support the bill.
Without Republican support, Democrats could try to raise the debt ceiling through budget reconciliation, the process used to pass the March COVID-19 relief bill with only simple majorities in both chambers. But Democrats are planning to use reconciliation to advance portions of Biden’s infrastructure and social support proposals, which could complicate raising the debt ceiling through that process.
The Treasury Department will be able to stave off a default for at least several weeks even if Congress fails to lift the debt ceiling by Aug. 1. But it’s unclear how long the Treasury could use so-called extraordinary measures to prevent a default.