Democrats, Republicans Agree To Short-Term Increase Of Nation's Debt Limit

Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Senate have reached an agreement on a short-term increase in the debt ceiling.

They are expected to approve it within the next two days, temporarily averting a possible financial catastrophe.

The measure would increase the federal government’s borrowing authority by $480 billion, the amount the U.S. Treasury told Congress it would need to get to December 3, when the limit would expire.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he understands why leadership made the deal, but this is another missed opportunity to discuss how to better manage government spending, so that Congress doesn’t have to continue lifting the ceiling.

“This vote today, again, is just an extension of half $1 trillion in new debt ceiling authority without any debate of how do we manage that, how do we manage deficits,” Lankford said in an interview on Thursday. “We are trying to avoid a debt collapse, we’re trying to avoid not keeping up with our payments, I completely understand that … but we continue to ignore the reason we even have this vote.”