Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he is counting on House Republicans to reach a deal with President Joe Biden to address the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a first-ever default by Washington.
Given the Democrats’ slim Senate majority of 51-49 in the new Congress and the 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass legislation, McConnell predicted that any solution the upper chamber formulated to approve a debt ceiling hike would barely win approval from the Republican-controlled House.
“I can’t imagine any kind of debt ceiling measure that could pass the Senate would also pass the House,” McConnell told reporters on Jan. 24. “So even though the debt ceiling could originate in either the House or the Senate, in this current situation, the debt ceiling fix, if there is one, or how it’s to be dealt with, will have to come out of the House,” he added….