Democrats Tie Debt Ceiling Suspension to Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown

Congressional Democrats announced Monday that they would attach a suspension of the debt ceiling to an upcoming stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown. In a Sunday Wall Street Journal op-ed, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her warning that if Congress did not raise or suspend the debt ceiling, the U.S. government could default on its financial obligations later this year and cause significant damage to the global economy. Despite that warning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday reiterated his pledge that no Republican would vote for a debt ceiling bill, effectively forcing Democrats to pass the bill on their own. Democrats’ proposed bill would suspend the debt ceiling until December 2022, shortly after the next midterm elections; the ceiling was previously suspended in 2019 until July 2021. 

Coverage was most prominent in business- and politics-focused outlets. Coverage in right-rated outlets tended to be less alarmist in describing the danger of a default; while The New York Times said it could be "financially catastrophic" and CNBC said it "could devastate the global economy," Fox Business said it "could have serious and negative economic implications," and neither the Washington Examiner nor the New York Post addressed such potential consequences outside of quotes from Yellen and Democratic leaders.