With the debt-ceiling deadline quickly approaching, the House could vote on legislation as early as Wednesday allowing the Department of Treasury to continue to borrow to pay the principal and interest due on the nation’s debt after the limit is hit.
The legislation, spearheaded by California Republican Rep. [crscore]Tom McClintock[\crscore] , would also endure Social Security recipients would continue to receive their checks.
The bill would prevent the Department of Treasury’s secretary from issuing new debt once the limit is reached.
“The full faith and credit of the United States should not hang in the balance every time there’s a fiscal debate in Washington,” McClintock said in a statement.
It would allow Congress to authorize borrowing funds for certain purposes approved by lawmakers.
The Treasury Department condemned the measure, saying, “it would be untenable for the United States to pick and choose which payments to default on, and is just another distraction from what Congress needs to do: take action to raise the debt limit as soon as possible.”
Jack Lew, who said the government will run out of funds on Nov. 3, wrote a letter pressuring Congress to raise the limit last week. The agency head warned the global economy could be negatively impacted if the issue isn’t addressed.
The Obama administration has said it won’t support anything but a clean increase to the limit.
Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@