The House won’t combine debt ceiling legislation to the relief package for Hurricane Harvey recovery slated to be voted on shortly after Congress returns from August recess, Bloomberg first reported.
President Donald Trump has weighed calling on Congress to conjoin the two, but GOP aides told Bloomberg top lawmakers plan on keeping the legislation separate.
The White House is calling for Congress to provide $5.95 billion in aid for initial response efforts. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that lawmakers may have to move up their timeline on increasing the federal borrowing limit to allow for additional spending on cleaning up the devastation caused by the storm.
The idea of linking the bills received sharp pushback from House conservatives. Members of the House Freedom Caucus have long advocated for spending cuts to be attached to debt ceiling legislation, which puts them at odds with the administration. HFC Chairman Mark Meadows told The Washington Post he believes it’s inappropriate to combine issues as a relief bill would pass on its own.
While the lower chamber plans on keeping the bills separate, the Senate is expected to follow suite. The upper chamber plans on attaching the debt limit to the relief bill before sending it back to the House, The Associated Press reports.
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