McConnell Retreats, Okays Extension Of U.S. Debt Limit

Senate Democrats and Republicans neared agreement as they met into the early morning hours Thursday to pull the nation from the brink of a debt default.

Photo Insert: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

The deal would punt their showdown on raising the federal borrowing limit to December after Republicans bowed to pressure to stave off immediate fiscal calamity, Jonathan Weisman and Emily Cochrane reported for the New York Times.

With the threat of a default as little as 12 days off, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, made a tactical retreat on Wednesday and announced that Republicans would allow Democrats to vote on a short-term extension.

He did not, however, lift his blockade of a longer-term increase in the debt cap, demanding anew that Democrats eventually use a complicated and time-consuming budget procedure known as reconciliation to lift it into next year or beyond.

Boston Globe also reported late on Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reached a deal with Republicans to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December, thus averting a debt crisis.

“We’ve reached an agreement,” Schumer announced as he opened the Senate. “Our hope is to get this done as soon as today,” he told Boston Globe.

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