It's a laugh riot being a Republican congressional leader, and they deserve every headache it brings them. The next big headache, provided they can stave off popular vote loser Donald Trump's insistence that they bring back Obamacare repeal, is a very serious one: the debt ceiling. Leadership has decided they want a "clean" hike, with no spending cuts attached. You know what that means.
Republican congressional leaders are quietly preparing to pass a “clean” debt ceiling increase, according to multiple senior GOP sources — setting the stage for a high-risk showdown with rank-and-file Republicans this fall. […]
GOP lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are calling for any debt ceiling hike to be accompanied by spending cuts or fiscal reforms — the same demand they made repeatedly during Barack Obama’s two terms.
That means McConnell (R-Ky.) and Ryan (R-Wis.) will have to rely on Democrats and enough moderate Republicans to help them avert a financial catastrophe by Sept. 29, the day Treasury exhausts its borrowing authority and the very last day for Congress to act.
Guess what also happens on September 29!
One option being considered is to roll a debt ceiling increase into a spending bill that must pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a federal government shutdown. Moderate Republicans in the House, including Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leader of the Tuesday Group, have been imploring House leaders to champion such a package as well.
As of now, the White House is behind a "clean" hike, with both Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney (abandoning his Freedom Caucus roots). But we have yet to hear from the tweeter in chief on this one. The only thing we have to go by are his deep thoughts from a few years ago.
Is Trump capable of goading the extremists in the GOP into shutting down their own government? Of course he is!