How Congress can end US debt limit deadlock

The United States government is staring at its 22nd shutdown if the Congress fails to reach a consensus on raising the debt ceiling. 

While the House of Representatives has given the nod to a bill that extends the borrowing limit till December 2022, Republicans have threatened to oppose it. Democratic leaders oppose the fillbuster and say a vote would enable their 50 members to pass the bill on their own.

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How the Congress can end the deadlock

Republicans allow the Senate to hold the vote. If that transpires, Democrats can pass the bill with their 50 members, along with the tie-breaker vote of the US Vice-President Kamala Harris. However, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told NBC News he would object and force a “cloture” vote. It would then require 60 votes to overcome the situation.

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One of the options for Democrats is to use the budget process. This method, however, will take more time. Democrats will have to revise the budget resolution for their multitrillion-dollar economic package. They will also have to hold a “vote-a-rama” to allow Senate amendments and pass the same measure in both chambers. As a result, they will be able to write a debt limit bill. US President Joe Biden called this method an “incredibly complicated, cumbersome process”.

Democrats can also create a legislative exception to block a debt limit hike. “I think we ought to have that conversation,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters. It would require all 50 Democrats to pierce the filibuster and change the rules to avoid the looming devastating consequences.

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Another solution is for Joe Biden to take executive action. The US Treasury Department can mint a platinum coin worth $1 trillion, or the Biden administration can invoke the 14th Amendment. It would declare the debt limit statute unconstitutional, and more money can be borrowed.