Trump slams McConnell for 'folding to the Democrats' by offering them a temporary lift of the debt ceiling
- Trump slammed McConnell over his offer to Democrats to delay a default on the national debt.
- "Looks like Mitch McConnell is folding to the Democrats, again," Trump said on Wednesday.
- Congress has been deadlocked for weeks on how to raise the debt ceiling to prevent a default.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for announcing a temporary solution to delay a default on the national debt.
"Looks like Mitch McConnell is folding to the Democrats, again," Trump said in a statement through his leadership PAC, Save America. "He's got all of the cards with the debt ceiling, it's time to play the hand. Don't let them destroy our Country!"
Congress has been deadlocked for weeks on how to raise the debt ceiling, which is what allows the government to borrow money to pay its bills. Not raising the debt ceiling, which has never been done before, would result in a default and could plunge the US economy into a recession and devastate global markets.
McConnell made a concession on Wednesday afternoon when he offered Democrats a two-month lift of the debt ceiling. Previously, the GOP leader was insistent that Democrats would have to raise the debt ceiling without Republican support - meaning Democrats would have to force its passage through a party-line vote in a lengthy procedural process called reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote Senate filibuster requirement.
But McConnell made it clear that his offer would only delay Democrats' problem until December, when they would have to figure out how to raise the debt ceiling on their own.
"This will moot Democrats' excuses about the time crunch they created and give the unified Democratic government more than enough time to pass standalone debt limit legislation through reconciliation," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday that both parties reached an agreement to extend the debt ceiling until December. Congress had until October 18 to finalize a deal to increase the limit, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
"McConnell caved," Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said on Wednesday. "And now we're going to spend our time doing child care, health care and fighting climate change."
But some Democrats weren't as enthused by his offer, with Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii telling reporters it was "bullshit."
Trump, for his part, has previously encouraged Republicans to stand firm and refuse to help Democrats with the debt ceiling.
"The only powerful tool that Republicans have to negotiate with is the Debt Ceiling, and they would be both foolish and unpatriotic not to use it now," Trump said in a September 22 statement.