Reuters: “President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that his Democrats might make an exception to a U.S. Senate rule to allow them to extend the government’s borrowing authority without Republican help, which could head off an economically crippling debt default. As a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats showed no sign of abating, Biden said there was a ‘real possibility’ that his party would bypass the long-standing supermajority voting requirement known as the filibuster for dealing with the debt limit.
“That would allow Democrats, who hold a razor-thin Senate majority, to suspend the federal government’s $28.4 trillion borrowing cap without Republican votes. Asked if Democrats would remove the filibuster solely to raise the debt limit, Biden said: ‘Oh I think that’s a real possibility.'”
“Many Democrats have argued that the Senate should dump the filibuster entirely, saying it prevents progress on climate change, voting rights and other priorities. Centrist Democratic senators including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have said they are not willing to do so, leaving the party short of the votes they need to change the rule. But Democrats now are considering dropping the filibuster just for dealing with the debt limit, several senators said. Manchin declined to comment when asked about that possibility on Tuesday prior to Biden’s statement.”