Scoop: Jeffries' plan to kill the debt ceiling forever
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has privately floated embracing the wholesale elimination of the debt limit next year rather than simply raising it, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: President-elect Trump will almost certainly need Democratic votes when the debt limit's "X-date" is reached — which experts say could be as soon as mid-June.
- Republicans have a significant bloc of debt and deficit hawks who will likely vote against raising the debt ceiling under any circumstances.
- That gives the Democratic leader considerable leverage to use the debt limit to force concessions.
State of play: House Democrats ruled out touching the debt ceiling as part of the government funding negotiations.
- When the funding fight is wrapped up, Jeffries has said, his party may engage with Trump's demand that the debt ceiling be done away with, according to a senior Democratic lawmaker and two other sources familiar with the matter.
Zoom out: Trump stunned Capitol Hill on Thursday by vowing to "lead the charge" to abolish the debt ceiling as part of a government funding bill.
- Democrats opted for formal opposition to the idea — with many arguing it would simply be a blank check for Trump's tax cuts.
- But scrapping the debt ceiling is a proposal many in the party have long embraced — and some Democrats like Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) couldn't help but endorse Trump's stipulation.
What we're hearing: Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Jeffries' leader on the House Budget Committee, has been telling colleagues "all week" that they should push for the elimination of the debt limit, a House Democrat told Axios.
- Boyle introduced a bill with dozens of his House Democratic colleagues last year to allow the Treasury Department to keep paying down the federal debt unless a veto-proof majority of Congress votes to stop them.
- He told Axios: "I believe 2025 is the time to permanently end the perennial debt ceiling dysfunction. I have been advocating for my Debt Ceiling Reform Act, which would end the debt ceiling as we know it."
Zoom in: Eliminating the debt limit has also been discussed amongst Senate Democrats, with Warren raising the issue in private caucus meetings this week, per sources.
- Warren will become the top Democrat on the influential Senate Banking Committee next year, shaping the caucus' messaging on fiscal fights next year.
Yes, but: Trump would likely have trouble with his own side and face pressure to back off eliminating the debt ceiling if he pursues it.
- Nearly 40 Republicans voted with Democrats against a government funding bill on Thursday that included a two-year debt limit extension.
- That vote came even after Trump's potent threat of primary challenges against Republicans who defy him.
The bottom line: One senior Democratic aide told Axios that Elon Musk's involvement in spending negotiations had poisoned the well and that the party was focused on averting a government shutdown.
- If that is done, the aide said, the party would engage in discussions about how to address the debt limit.
