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The No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House on Tuesday said the party’s top lawmakers were thinking about backing legislation that would just avoid a partial government shutdown by keeping the federal government funded after Thursday.
Republican senators on Monday night blocked a House-passed bill that would prevent a shutdown but also would raise the federal borrowing limit, putting pressure on Democrats to deliver a measure that only would address a shutdown.
“We’re talking to the Senate about that now,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m sure sometime today we’re going to make that determination,” Hoyer added. “We need to fund the government, so we’re talking about right now — what’s the best strategy to move forward and get it done.”
House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, also has suggested that a bill could be in the works that only would prevent a shutdown.
Read: Here’s what would happen if Washington doesn’t prevent a government shutdown
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, has argued repeatedly that Democratic lawmakers ought to go it alone to lift the debt limit through a process known as budget reconciliation, similar to how they’re working to pass a $3.5 trillion spending plan without GOP votes. Democrats have maintained that the increase should happen through a standard process and draw bipartisan support, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat, saying it’s paying “the Trump credit card.”
Hoyer on Tuesday acknowledged that Democratic lawmakers are considering lifting the debt limit on their own without Republican support.
“Reconciliation is one option, and that’s on the table. But there are other options on the table,” he told reporters.
Related: Congress must raise or suspend debt limit by Oct. 18, Yellen says
And see: What happens if the U.S. defaults on its debt?
Meanwhile, Pelosi and other top Democrats also are facing pressure from progressive colleagues who say they won’t support a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that has passed the Senate unless the $3.5 trillion package moves ahead as well.
Pelosi this week has signaled to her fellow Democrats that they must act just on the infrastructure measure before surface transportation funding runs out Thursday, according to multiple published reports.
U.S. stock benchmarks
SPX,
DJIA,
traded sharply lower Tuesday, as Treasury yields extended a recent climb.
