A Senate Insider Reveals 3 Doomsday Scenarios That Could Blow Up Debt Limit

On Thursday, while Washington was transfixed by Hillary Clinton’s marathon testimony before the Benghazi committee, a Republican bill to raise the debt limit fell apart. The Treasury Department says it must be raised by Nov. 3 to avoid a cataclysmic default. On Thursday morning, a Goldman Sachs note said it “seems unlikely” that the issue will be as disruptive as it was in the past and predicted “a debt limit increase will be signed into law by the Nov. 3 deadline.” But, the note went on to point out, “neither the House nor the Senate has taken any action so far to address the issue.”

A few hours later, House Republicans abandoned the vehicle that was supposed to get the job done—a bill by the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) raising the limit into 2017, but also freezing new regulations and delivering a host of other conservative goodies. The RSC bill was supposed to get a Friday vote. But aides said it didn’t have enough support to pass. There’s no clear path forward.