House and Senate leaders want to put budget negotiations on hold until Congress approves an increase in the U.S. debt limit, Roll Call reported Tuesday.Niels Lesniewski writes Treasury Secretary Jack Lew informed Congress that the department will use extraordinary measures to help the government meet financial obligations through Nov 3.
“That is looming, and we’re already seeing evidence of its impact on the economy,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters after a caucus meeting Tuesday.
Reuters reported the House aims to advance a bill to raise the nation’s borrowing limit as early as this week in order to give the Senate time to tackle the legislation before the Nov. 3 deadline.
“We have two issues, the debt ceiling, we have two weeks left on that,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“On the budget we have until Dec. 11. We’re going to take them one at a time.”
