House Democrats set up procedural move to force debt limit vote

WASHINGTON — House Democrats worked to get around Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Republican leaders with a procedural move that could speed up a vote on a debt ceiling increase as U.S. default looms as soon as June 1.

Democrats will need some moderate House Republican to cooperate for the gambit to succeed because the discharge petition would require 218 signatures — a majority of the House — to force action. McCarthy and his leadership team are certain to put maximum pressure on GOP members not to go along with the move, but only five would have to defy the speaker to move the measure forward.

The complex plan has been in the works for months and would allow a vote on a debt ceiling increase by early June.

Democrats set up a multiweek process to force a floor vote on a placeholder bill authored by Rep. Mark DeSaulnier that could then be amended to increase the debt limit. DeSaulnier quietly introduced his placeholder bill in March to allow it sit and “ripen” for the current move. Rather than trying to discharge the bill itself, Democrats are using a workaround to discharge a debate rule on the bill, a much faster process.

“Congress must urgently pass legislation to raise the borrowing limit and avoid plunging our nation into a recession, driving up unemployment and crashing the stock market,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries in a letter to his colleagues announcing the move. “House Democrats are working to make sure we have all options at our disposal to avoid a default.”

McCarthy will sit down with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders next Tuesday to discuss the debt ceiling. So far the prospects of a deal appear low because Biden continues to insist on a no-strings-attached debt increase and McCarthy is demanding enactment of the $4.8 trillion in budget cuts the House GOP passed last week.