Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00021084
US Politics
Debt limit debate
Schumer frustrates GOP, Manchin with fiery debt ceiling speech
C-SPAN
Original article: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/575889-schumer-frustrates-gop-manchin-with-fiery-debt-ceiling-speech
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
BY JORDAIN CARNEY
10/07/21 10:13 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) sparked anger among Senate Republicans after he railed against them just after they helped advance a short-term debt ceiling extension over a key hurdle.
The speech from Schumer came after 11 GOP senators joined with all Democrats to end debate on the short-term debt hike. Republicans had worked for hours behind the scenes to try to arm-twist and lock down the at least 10 GOP votes needed to overcome the hurdle.
The Senate passed the debt ceiling increase on a party-line, 50-48 vote.
Schumer blasted the GOP debt ceiling strategy, accusing them of playing a 'dangerous and risky partisan game' and saying Democrats were able to 'pull our country back from the cliff's edge that Republicans tried to push us over.'
The remarks angered Republicans, who each voted against the short-term debt ceiling extension in the final vote where only a simple majority was needed. It also sparked pushback from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who could be seen with his hands over his face for part of Schumer's remarks.
'I didn't think it was appropriate at this time, and we had a talk about that,' Manchin told reporters as he left the Capitol for the night. 'I'm sure Chuck's frustration was up, but that was not a way of taking it out.'
Manchin added that senators needed to 'de-weaponize' and 'stop playing politics.'
Manchin could be seen talking with Schumer as the Democratic leader sat at his desk after giving the speech. Senate GOP Whip John Thune (S.D.), one of 11 GOP senators who voted to end debate on the debt bill, and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) also both approached Schumer on the floor after his speech.
Thune said he told Schumer that he was frustrated with the tone of the Democratic leader's speech.
'I thought it was totally out of line. I just thought it was an incredibly partisan speech after we had just helped him solve a problem. ... I let him have it,' Thune said.
Romney, referring to Schumer's remarks, told reporters that 'there’s a time to be graceful and there’s a time to be combative, and that was a time for grace.'
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said he 'heard a number of people' on the Senate floor calling Schumer's speech counterproductive. And Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Schumer's remarks were 'unnecessarily partisan.'
Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.), another GOP 'yes' vote on the procedural hurdle, told CNN that he thought the comments from Schumer were a 'classless speech.'
The Senate's vote capped off a weeks-long standoff over how to raise the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has given Congress until Oct. 18, or warned that they could spark a default.
That led to an entrenched stalemate between Schumer and Republicans, who were trying to force Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own under a budget process known as reconciliation.
The short-term extension is expected to raise the debt ceiling until roughly Dec. 3, according to Treasury Department estimates.
------------------------------------------------
- McConnell vows GOP won't help raise debt ceiling in December after...
- Growing number of Democrats endorse abolishing debt limit altogether
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) warned President Biden on Friday...
Trump heads to Iowa as 2024... Donald Trump is sending the clearest signals yet that he’s planning...
Rare canine that looks like a lion... The Tibetan mastiff is known for its long, golden coats and flowing lion-...
'Battered on trust, doubted on... If these polls and others like them are any indication, Team Biden needs...
Taliban says it won't work with US... The Taliban said on Saturday they will not work with the U.S. to contain...
Biden personally called... President Biden on Thursday said that he had personally called a hospital...
Pandora Papers: 4 takeaways from... A massive leak revealing the secret assets of some of the world's most...
Are Chinese incursions into Taiwan... Last weekend, China’s air force set new records for intrusions into Taiwan...
Appeals court temporarily... A U.S. court of appeals temporarily reinstated Texas's six-week abortion...
White House orders release of... The White House has ordered presidential record keepers to release a trove...
20 state attorneys general sue... A group of 20 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Thursday over a...
New NASA mission will crash... “DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to...
Whitmer vetoes bill on bird... Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday vetoed a bill that would...
Growing number of Democrats... Congress is on the verge of narrowly averting a catastrophic debt default...
Trump stirs up new racism storm... “Many of those people will probably have AIDS and they're coming into our...
Debt for Trump's business... Debt carried by former President Trump's business has increased by about $...
Huge strike at four Kellogg's... Work at Kellogg’s Co. cereal plants in the U.S. came to a halt this week...
Democratic anxiety rises as Trump... Democrats are worried about another White House bid by former President...