WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he did not believe Republicans would let the United States default on its debt as the government approaches it current borrowing capacity in October.
“I cannot believe the Republicans will let the country default, and it has always been bipartisan to deal with the debt ceiling,” Schumer told reporters at a news conference, noting Democrats backed debt limit increases three times under former Republican President Donald Trump.
He also pointed to calls by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the White House to work outside of the reconciliation process to make it a bipartisan action and to give lawmakers more flexibility.
He noted Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have raised recent objections to any bipartisan action on the debt limit. But “making it a partisan issue” is “fraught with peril,” Schumer added.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
