Chuck Schumer just said Congress has a debt ceiling deal through December, barely averting potential default in 11 days

• Democrats and Republicans struck a deal to avoid a national default within weeks.
• It temporarily defuses a showdown that had the potential to end in a catastrophic default.
• Some Democrats said the maneuver from McConnell was intended to jam them down the road.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Thursday Congress has reached a debt ceiling deal to prevent default through early December.

"We have reached agreement to extend the debt ceiling through early December, and it's our hope that we can get this done as soon as today," the Democrat said. A vote is expected later in the day.

A Senate aide familiar with the agreement told Insider it would raise the US borrowing limit another $480 billion, a figure that the Treasury Department projected would allow the US to finance its debt until December.

The announcement came one day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats a two-month lift of the debt ceiling, Insider previously reported.

The deal temporarily defuses a showdown over the nation's ability to repay its bills that pushed the US to the brink of default, punting it for another two months. Congress will have to address it along with government funding in late fall.

Republicans obstructed Democratic efforts to raise the debt ceiling, setting off a fierce political clash that brought the US to the brink of default in 11 days. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky chiefly led the GOP drive to block lifting the debt limit, arguing Democrats had to assume the burden of financing their planned social safety net spending. They shot down two measures to lift the debt limit since early last week.

But Democrats argued both parties had a duty to repay the nation's bills, particularly after Republicans and Democrats piled on another $8 trillion to the national debt under the Trump administration.

The Kentucky Republican appeared to blink after Senate Democrats seriously considered blowing a one-time hole in the filibuster to raise the debt limit and avoid a default with potentially calamitous consequences for the economy.

Some Democrats said they believed the December deadline offered from McConnell was an intentional maneuver to jam them as the parties tries to mold President Joe Biden's economic agenda into law. They're hammering out a $3.5 trillion social spending plan aimed at expanding healthcare, childcare, and education.

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said he believed that was McConnell's intent. "Of course," he told Insider.

Republicans are "absolutely are trying to slow down the legislative agenda and make it harder to actually get things done," Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan told Insider.