Reid Revises Debt Bill to Include McConnell Two-Step Process
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revised his debt-limit proposal to adopt a two-step procedure modeled after one proposed by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that would let the president raise the ceiling in two steps unless a supermajority of Congress blocked it.
According to a summary of the new plan, the borrowing authority would be provided in two separate $1.2 trillion installments, one immediately, and one in several months, the next time the nation nears its borrowing limit.
All but the first $416 billion could be blocked through a joint resolution of Congress, though opponents would have to muster supermajorities in both chambers to override a veto.
The new plan would yield debt savings of $2.4 trillion -- the same as the total borrowing authority extended -- and call on a 12-member bipartisan congressional committee to draft legislation to lower the deficit to 3 percent or less of gross domestic product.
The panel would be directed to consider other bipartisan plans, the summary said, such as the one proposed by the “Gang of Six,” a group of three Republicans and three Democrats that negotiated a package to shave $3.7 trillion off the long-term debt over a decade through a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Washington at at jdavis159@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Laurie Asseo at lasseo1@bloomberg.net
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, speaks during a news conference with fellow Democratic senators Charles Schumer of New York, left, Richard Durbin of Illinois, second from right, and Patty Murray of Washington, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, July 29, 2011.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, speaks during a news conference with fellow Democratic senators Charles Schumer of New York, left, Richard Durbin of Illinois, second from right, and Patty Murray of Washington, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, July 29, 2011. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.