WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says Democrats are considering a change to the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to quickly approve lifting the nation’s debt limit.
Biden told reporters late Tuesday at the White House, “It’s a real possibility.”
The president's off-the-cuff remarks interject a new urgency to an increasingly uncertain situation.
Days before an Oct. 18 deadline to act, the Senate is tangled in a dangerous partisan standoff over a vote that’s needed to allow the federal government to continue borrowing or risk defaulting on its already accrued debt load.
Republicans have said they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats can raise the debt ceiling alone through reconciliation.
"They have the time to do it. And the sooner they get about it, the better," McConnell was quoted by Reuters.
Democrats argue the reconciliation process will take too long.
The Senate is scheduled to vote to suspend the debt ceiling on Wednesday.
