Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Debt Limit Stalemate Opens Cracks in the Filibuster

Republican obstruction on funding the U.S. government gives Democrats little choice but to punch another hole in the power of Senate minorities.

September 21, 2021 at 11:30 AM UTC

By Jonathan Bernstein

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

Making it happen.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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A deadline crisis appears to be approaching for Congress: Legislation is needed to temporarily fund the U.S. government into October, and to raise the debt limit so that the government doesn’t default at some point this fall. In fact, it’s unlikely that either disaster will happen. But that’s not the whole story.