U.S. Senate Democrats plan debt-limit vote, Biden hints filibuster could go

Senate Democrats are set to try again on Wednesday to extend the U.S. government's borrowing authority to head off a catastrophic default, after President Joe Biden suggested they could change the chamber's rules to bypass a Republican roadblock.

Republicans for months have refused to help raise the self-imposed $28.4 trillion borrowing cap, instead trying to force Democrats to use a different parliamentary maneuver to do so in hopes of scoring political points with voters.

With less than two weeks to go before the Treasury Department expects to run out of ways to meet the government's expenses, Democrats are looking at all their options.

Biden said on Tuesday that it was "real possibility" that Democrats might use their current razor-thin majority to drop the Senate's filibuster rule, which requires 60 of the chamber's 100 members to agree to pass most legislation.

Biden, himself a former Senator, had previously opposed changes to the filibuster, which is meant to help maintain government stability through election cycles.

If Democrats follow through, they could easily suspend the debt ceiling before the deadline of about Oct. 18. That would head off the risk of a crippling default and allow them to focus on passing two mammoth spending bills that make up the bulk of Biden's domestic agenda.

In an effort to underline the severe economic risks of a default, Biden will meet on Wednesday with a group including CEOs of major corporations including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O).