A missed opportunity on debt ceiling

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Congress laid out an ambitious agenda for its lame-duck session, the period between the election and when new and re-elected members are sworn in.

Among its most urgent tasks has been passing the massive omnibus appropriations bill to ensure government operations get continued funding. A deal outlining the framework for passage was struck Tuesday, just ahead of a Dec. 16 deadline. Congress is expected to OK another extension to put the finishing touches on a full-year bill.

But there was another task with no formal deadline that may come back to haunt Democratic leaders, who have nominal control of both bodies but will turn over the House to Republicans in January. That task is raising the debt ceiling, the total amount of money the U.S. government is authorized to borrow to meet current legal obligations.

Like so many things, the debt ceiling debate has been weaponized in recent decades. In 1995 it triggered a fight so severe that Congress blew past its date for passing a funding bill, resulting in a government shutdown. In 2011, a similar dispute resulted in a U.S. credit rating downgrade.

The U.S. is not expected to hit the debt ceiling until mid-2023, but Democrats had, in theory at least, the opportunity to raise it while still controlling both legislative bodies. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who heads the powerful Senate Rules Committee, told an editorial writer that the debt ceiling "is something I would love to get done before the end of the year." But once again, she said, Senate work is hindered by the 60-vote majority required to close debate on most issues. So narrow is the margin in the Senate that only the addition of Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaking vote tipped control to Democrats in 2021. "It does make things harder," Klobuchar said of the filibuster rule. "You need 60 votes. We are doing everything we can."

There is even more riding on that budget bill, Klobuchar said. The fate of the Electoral Count Reform Act, which she has made a point of championing in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, is tied to the budget bill.

"That electoral count act is critical if we don't want another Jan. 6," Klobuchar said. "Right now, any rogue senator or House member could stop the [electoral] count for hours. It's an antiquated law in need of updating." The bill passed the Rules Committee with bipartisan support, including from McConnell, and is now set for inclusion in the overall budget bill. Klobuchar is correct: The reforms are must-pass changes that would stabilize future elections.

That leaves the problem of delaying a deal on the debt ceiling. The incoming House Republican majority is more intent than ever on leveraging the issue to enact deep cuts in domestic spending, including possibly Social Security. Some Republicans have said they would oppose raising the borrowing limit — which again is the amount needed to meet current, not future, obligations — under any circumstances.

That kind of intransigence will make it more difficult to reach a deal next year. It could set the stage for a fractious, monthslong battle over the debt ceiling, which ultimately must be raised to avoid catastrophic economic effects.

Some Republicans, such as Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, have said the debt ceiling is too serious to be treated as another bargaining chip. "We shouldn't put the United States in a position to default on our debt, clearly," Johnson said. "But I also think every member of Congress needs to acknowledge that the $32 trillion debt is not in our national interest."