周一晚间，参议院共和党人阻止了民主党旨在避免政府关门和提高联邦债务上限的措施，这使得国会只有几天时间来凑齐政府拨款法案。
参议院以48票对50票通过，民主党未能获得阻止共和党阻挠议案通过所需的60票。他说，参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默在最后一刻改变了他的投票，以便有可能重新考虑这项措施。
舒默说，共和党参议员“投票推动我们的国家直接走向政府关门，这是我们国家历史上的第一次违约”。
该措施将把目前的联邦资金水平延长到12月初，并将为阿富汗难民重新安置和飓风伊达的救济提供数十亿美元的紧急救济资金。它还将联邦债务限额提高到2022年12月。
投票前，参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔曾试图让参议院通过他自己的政府拨款法案，但遭到民主党人的反对。
共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪(John Kennedy)呼吁民主党参议员搁置债务上限之争，通过麦康奈尔法案，他所在的州遭受了多次飓风的破坏。
“我们为什么要为此争吵?你知道，大自然厌恶白痴，不通过这个是愚蠢的，”他说。“我们别犯傻了。”
肯尼迪是唯一一个玩弄对民主党的措施投赞成票的共和党人，与麦康奈尔背道而驰。但最终，他还是参加了会议。
如果议员们希望避免潜在的金融灾难，债务限额必须在10月中旬前解决。专家警告说，如果不采取行动，可能会导致股市崩盘，抵押贷款、贷款和信用卡利率上升，企业发现做基础业务的成本更高，从而导致裁员。
财政部长珍妮特·耶伦在最近的一次讲话中用了鲜明的措辞华尔街日报评论版，称“几天之内，数百万美国人可能会缺钱。”
她写道:“近5000万老年人可能会暂时停止领取社会保障支票。“军队可能会没有报酬。数百万依赖每月儿童税收抵免的家庭可能会出现延迟。”
但共和党人团结一致，决心阻止债务上限的任何上调，拒绝给予民主党60票支持，因为这将提高债务上限，而这是推进权宜融资法案所必需的。
舒默周一在投票前斥责共和党人，称他们不会团结起来对持续的决议投赞成票，称他们的拒绝“精神错乱”和“激进”
舒默说:“在上帝的绿色地球上，没有一个场景值得为了获得短期无意义的政治分数而冒着数百万个工作岗位、数万亿家庭财富、人们的社会保障支票、退伍军人福利和另一场衰退的风险。
“我们面临着一系列可怕的事情，这些事情会伤害到这个国家的每一个美国人，”他补充道。
麦康奈尔辩称，共和党人几周来一直保持透明，他们不会支持继续提高债务上限的决议。
麦康奈尔说:“我们将支持一项干净的持续决议，该决议将防止政府关门，向路易斯安那州提供救灾援助，帮助经过适当审查的阿富汗难民为美国挺身而出，并支持对我们的盟友以色列的铁穹援助。“我们不会为提高债务上限提供共和党选票。”
麦康奈尔认为，民主党人可以也应该自行负责提高债务上限，以抵消尚未通过的大规模社会支出法案的成本，该法案涵盖了拜登总统的许多议程项目。
该社会支出法案不受参议院通常60票门槛的限制。共和党人认为，民主党可以在没有任何共和党支持的情况下通过该法案，提高债务限额应该与该法案挂钩。
“我对这个民主党政府、总统、众议院和参议院的建议是:不要拿我们的经济玩俄罗斯轮盘赌。逐步提高债务上限，以涵盖你一整年从事的所有工作，”麦康奈尔上周表示。“这是一个完全民主的政府。他们有义务提高债务上限，他们会这么做的。”
但提高债务上限传统上是两党的目标。参议院民主党人叫屈，声称麦康奈尔立场不一致。
民主党人在特朗普政府时期与共和党人合作，多次提高债务限额，现在需要提高限额，主要是为了支付特朗普总统任期内通过的立法。拜登政府的新提议尚未被考虑在内。
舒默上周表示:“共和党人突然把手举起来，逃避偿还他们自豪支持的债务的责任，无异于一顿大餐和历史性的冲刺。”。“共和党人在特朗普总统执政期间负债数万亿美元，并要求美国家庭买单。”
目前还不清楚参议院在未来几天将如何停止关闭。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)上周表示，国会可能会考虑一项不影响债务上限的权宜融资措施，为议员们争取更多时间来制定如何推进的策略。麦康奈尔说，共和党人会支持这一点。
但是时间不多了。民主党人必须在未来几周内解决债务限额和政府资金问题，同时应对拜登许多最雄心勃勃的国内政策优先事项的命运。
如果参议院没有60票支持提高债务上限，议员们别无选择，只能将其纳入3.5万亿美元的庞大社会支出法案中，但该法案的命运绝非板上钉钉。
在众议院，温和派威胁要拒绝投票，除非参议院在8月份通过的一项单独的1万亿美元基础设施法案获得众议院通过。众议院预计将在本周晚些时候对两党法案进行投票，但进步人士希望在支持这项更大的社会法案之前看到更多的进展。
周一早些时候，拜登在国会山接受助推剂注射时发表了重要讲话。
“我们有三件事要做:债务上限、持续解决方案和两项立法。我们这样做，这个国家将处于良好的状态，”拜登告诉记者。
白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)在周一下午的简报会上回应了总统，表示国会谈判可能会延续到本周之后。
“你说它能进入下周?那是你的期望吗?”一位记者问。
“我们走着瞧，”普萨基回答。
Senate Republicans block debt limit measure, stopgap funding as government shutdown looms
Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic measure aimed at averting a government shutdown and raising the federal debt limit Monday evening, leaving Congress with just days to cobble together a government funding bill.
The Senate voted 48-50, with Democrats falling short of the 60 votes needed to stop the Republican filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed his vote at the last minute, he said, in order to potentially reconsider the measure.
GOP senators "voted to drive our country straight toward a government shutdown and the first default in our country’s history," Schumer said.
The measure would have extended federal funding at the current levels through early December and would have provided billions in emergency relief funds for Afghan refugee resettlement and Hurricane Ida relief. It also would have raised the federal debt limit through December 2022.
Before the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had tried to get the Senate to pass his own government funding bill stripped of a debt ceiling hike, but Democrats objected.
GOP Sen. John Kennedy, whose state was ravaged by multiple hurricanes, had called on Democratic senators to set aside the debt ceiling fight and pass the McConnell bill.
"Why are we fighting over this? You know, nature abhors a moron, and it’s moronic not to pass this," he said. "Let's not be moronic."
Kennedy had been the lone Republican to toy with voting yes on the Democrats' measure, bucking McConnell. But in the end, he stayed with his conference.
The debt limit must be dealt with by mid-October if lawmakers hope to avert potential financial calamity. Experts warn that failure to act could lead to the stock market crashing, rising rates for mortgages, loans and credit cards, and businesses finding it more expensive to do basic business, leading to layoffs.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen put it in stark terms in a recentWall Street Journal op-ed, saying, "In a matter of days, millions of Americans could be strapped for cash."
"Nearly 50 million seniors could stop receiving Social Security checks for a time," she wrote. "Troops could go unpaid. Millions of families who rely on the monthly child tax credit could see delays."
But Republicans were united in their resolve to block any hike to the debt limit from moving forward, denying Democrats the 60 votes necessary to move forward on a stopgap funding bill because it would raise the debt limit.
Schumer scolded Republicans on Monday before the vote for signaling they won’t come together to vote yes on the continuing resolution, calling their refusal "unhinged" and "radical."
"There is no scenario on God's green Earth where it should be worth risking millions of jobs, trillions in household wealth, people's social security checks, veterans benefits and another recession, just to score short-term meaningless political points," Schumer said.
"We're facing a parade of horrible that will hurt every single American in this country," he added.
McConnell argued Republicans have been transparent for weeks that they would not support a continuing resolution that raises the debt ceiling.
"We will support a clean continuing resolution that will prevent a government shutdown, get disaster relief to Louisiana, help properly vetted Afghan refugees who put themselves on the line for America and support the Iron Dome assistance for our ally, Israel," McConnell said. "We will not provide Republican votes for raising the debt limit."
McConnell has argued that Democrats can and should be responsible for raising the debt limit on their own to offset the cost of a not-yet-passed massive social spending bill that encompasses many of President Joe Biden's agenda items.
That social spending bill is exempt from the normal 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Democrats can pass it without any GOP support, and a raise in the debt limit should be tied to that bill, Republicans argue.
"My advice to this Democratic government, the president, the House and the Senate: Don't play Russian roulette with our economy. Step up and raise the debt ceiling to cover all that you've been engaged in all year long," McConnell said last week. "This is a totally Democratic government. They have an obligation to raise the debt ceiling, and they will do it."
But raising the debt limit is traditionally a bipartisan objective. Senate Democrats have cried foul, alleging that McConnell is being inconsistent in his position.
Democrats worked with Republicans under the Trump administration to raise the debt limit on multiple occasions, and the limit now needs to be raised largely to pay for legislation passed during the Trump presidency. New proposals from the Biden administration haven't yet been factored in.
"For Republicans to suddenly throw their hands in the air and abscond from their responsibility to pay debt that they proudly supported is nothing short of a dine and dash of historic proportions," Schumer said last week. "Republicans wracked trillions of dollars in debt under President Trump and are demanding American families foot the bill."
It's not clear exactly how the Senate might proceed in the coming days to stop a shutdown.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested last week that Congress would likely consider a stopgap funding measure that does not impact the debt limit, buying lawmakers more time to strategize on how to proceed. McConnell said Republicans would support this.
But the clock is ticking. Democrats must address both the debt limit and government funding in the coming weeks while simultaneously juggling the fate of many of Biden's most ambitious domestic policy priorities.
Without the 60 votes necessary to advance a debt limit hike in the Senate, lawmakers have little choice but to include it in their massive $3.5 trillion social spending bill -- but that bill's fate is anything but certain.
In the House, moderates are threatening to withhold votes unless a separate $1 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August clears the lower chamber. The House is expected to vote on the bipartisan bill later this week, but progressives want to see more progression the larger social bill before they lend their support to it.
Biden addressed the big week on Capitol Hill while receiving his booster shot earlier Monday.
"We've got three things to do: the debt ceiling, continuing resolution and the two pieces of legislation. We do that, the country is going to be in great shape,” Biden told reporters.
Echoing the president at a briefing Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated congressional negotiations could stretch beyond this week.
"You said it could go into next week? That's your expectations?" one reporter asked.
"We’ll see," Psaki replied.
