Hitting US Debt Ceiling Could Trigger Recession, White House Says

© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova / Go to the mediabankOfficial residence of the U.S. President, the White House in Washington D.C.
Official residence of the U.S. President, the White House in Washington D.C. - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.09.2021
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The statement comes several days after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a warning to the Biden administration, saying Republicans won't support raising the federal borrowing limit and that the Democrats would have to do it on their own. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, it would lead to a default.
The White House has said that not raising the US debt ceiling could cause a recession. "Economic growth would falter, unemployment would rise, and the labor market could lose millions of jobs," the White House said in a fact sheet.
The Biden administration warned that billions of dollars in state aid and federal funding for various programmes could be stopped if the Congress fails to reach a deal on the issue.

"The US economy has just begun to recover from the pandemic and a manufactured debt ceiling crisis would threaten the gains we’ve made and the future recovery. If the US defaults on its obligations, the ripple effects will hurt cities and states across the country", the White House said.

The statement noted that the government provides $100 billion in infrastructure funding, $50 billion for school programmes, and $10 billion in annual funding for public health programmes.

Why Can’t The Sides Reach a Compromise and What Will Happen Next?

Both parties blame each other for the current predicament. The Democrats argue that the Republicans should support the measure because the government is crashing into the debt limit due to the economic policies introduced by former President Donald Trump. The GOP, in turn, points at President Biden’s massive 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and the $3.5 trillion budget plan, the largest in the history of the United States, which the administration plans to push through.
Negotiations on the debt ceiling between Democrats and Republicans have been dragging on for months, with no solution in sight. There are two options – either the Democrats will persuade 10 Republican lawmakers in the Senate to support the raising of the debt ceiling, or the United States will default on its debt.
As mentioned earlier, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned that Republicans won’t support the measure, which they deem as a “reckless spending spree”. McConnell has called on the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own, through the procedure called budget reconciliation.
It speeds up the passage of legislation on spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit. Normally to approve a bill, the Senate needs a 60-vote supermajority, but reconciliation allows legislation to be passed with a simple majority. Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats won’t use the said procedure.
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