Democratic Leader: We Will Pass Debt Ceiling Backup Plan if McCarthy's Deal Fails
Hakeem Jeffries guarantees Americans there will be no government default
While President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled their compromise deal to raise the federal debt ceiling in exchange for various Republican conditions, that arrangement isn't yet actually a done deal.
Lawmakers from both political parties — and in both chambers of Congress — must approve the deal in legislative language for it to become law.
And with many Democrats and Republicans disappointed with the outcome of the negotiations, approval of the Biden/McCarthy accommodation is not assured.
Which leaves House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) holding “Plan B.”
Jeffries, weeks ago, advanced a so-called “discharge petition,” which would allow the Democratic leader to bring an alternative, “clean” debt-ceiling increase to a vote on the House floor if just a bare majority of the House — 218 members — agrees.
With all 213 Democrats onboard with discharge petition, Jeffries would need to convince just five House Republicans to join them in order to get a debt-ceiling increase in the event McCarthy's deal were to go down to defeat.
Jeffries was asked about his discharge petition plan Sunday by Margaret Brennan, host of the CBS News program, Face The Nation.
Brennan asked the leader whether his plan would prevent the catastrophic economic meltdown which would happen if the US government doesn't raise the debt ceiling and goes into default.
“But I want to ask about the backup plan; 213 Democrats voted for this discharge petition, this idea of being able to vote to lift the debt ceiling, even if the Republican leader doesn't do it,” Brennan said on her Sunday program. “You'd need five Republicans. Can you do that? Can you guarantee people that we will not see a default?”
Jeffries had a simple reply: “Yes.”
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