Despite White House pleas over the debt ceiling, Congress kicks the can down the road

What did politicians gain by delaying the issue, asks John Bowden

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’s done negotiating with Democrats on the issue (Getty Images)

The gridlock in the Senate broke momentarily last week resulting in members from both parties coming together to support a short-term increase in America’s debt limit, a minor victory for Democrats who previously faced a GOP unwilling at all to vote in favour of keeping the US from default.

As Congress moves into the second full week of October, however, it is becoming increasingly clear that the majority party’s victory was only temporary, and may have hardened GOP resistance for the months to come.

Facing two deadlines over the past month, Congress has extended both funding for the government at current levels as well as an extension of the borrowing limit to pay the US’s existing obligations through early December. The federal government will now run out of funding on 3 December, and the US will need to extend the debt ceiling again by around the same time.