House Democrats take step toward forcing vote on debt ceiling hike

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced that House Democrats have taken a key procedural step that could be used to bypass House Republican leadership and enable Democrats to attempt to force a vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.

The move is the next step House Democrats need to take to preserve all of their options as lawmakers stare down a June 1 deadline of potential default if Congress doesn’t act to address the debt limit before then.

The procedural step could be used to bring up a discharge petition to address the debt limit, but Democrats would need Republican support for the step to go into effect and it’s unclear how much exists.