(StraightNews.org) — Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said everyone needs to “relax” regarding the looming debt ceiling deadline. McConnell said the situation is not unusual, and trades and exchanges have been made in the past when negotiating the debt ceiling increase. He insisted that America will not default on its payments, adding that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will reach a deal with the President, and it will pass easily through both Houses of Congress.
McConnell also said the deal should be brokered by the White House and House of Representatives while he and others in the Senate take a back seat.
“The last ten times we raised the debt ceiling, there were things attached to it. This is not that unusual. It is almost entirely required when you have divided government,” McConnell said.
The deadlock on Capitol Hill has been running on for weeks. The White House wants to raise the debt ceiling – the amount the government can borrow – but needs Republican support in Congress. Republicans say they will only back the increase if the government commits to spending reductions in the future. The White House has so far refused to agree to Republican proposals, which primarily center around making alterations to benefit entitlement criteria.
Some Democrats are encouraging President Biden to utilize apparent powers contained within the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to pay that nation’s debts without the approval of Congress. A letter, which Democrats have signed in the Senate, asks the President to use the Amendment to avoid negotiations with Republicans. Still, experts are divided on the legality of such a move.
The Amendment states that the nation’s debts “shall not be questioned,” which some interpret as giving executive power to the President. Others say such a move by Biden would provoke a Constitutional crisis. White House lawyers are said to be studying the matter.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the deadlock must be broken by June 1st, or the US could default and plunge into recession.
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