Top Democrats are privately discussing the possibility of using the budget reconciliation process in the upcoming lame-duck session to raise the statutory debt limit if Republicans retake one or both chambers in the midterms.
No decisions have been made, and the path to enacting another filibuster-proof budget bill in the short time allotted between Nov. 14 and Dec. 16, when lawmakers would like to wrap up the 117th Congress, is procedurally treacherous. And there’s a week off for Thanksgiving to boot.
But the motive would be to take the issue off the table before Republicans assume control in January and use a “must-pass” debt ceiling bill as leverage to try and extract spending cuts that are anathema to Democrats and the White House. “The idea is very much on the table,” a former Democratic aide familiar with the discussions said.
