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Updated October 5th, 2021 at 07:00 IST

Joe Biden tells Republicans 'get out of the way' on debt limit, warns of credit default

“They need to stop playing Russian roulette with the US economy,” Biden said at the White House as he asked the Republican senators to “get out of the way”.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Joe Biden
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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US President Joe Biden on Monday asked the Republican senators to “get out of the way” as he warned that his administration edging closer to a credit default after Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell refused to lend support to the party. The US leader appealed for suspension of the nation’s debt limit as the deadline for 18 October loomed for Congress to allow the government more borrowing and keep it operating despite the acquisition of total public debt of $28.4 trillion, Associated Press reported. A measure to suspend the debt limit was passed by the House earlier. However, Republican McConnell forced Senate Democrats into a cumbersome process, that apparently might drag on as the deadline approached. 

“They need to stop playing Russian roulette with the US economy,” Biden said at the White House, according to Associated Press. “Republicans just have to let us do our job. Just get out of the way. If you don’t want to help save the country, get out of the way so you don’t destroy it,” he added. 

While McConnell argued that the US Republicans already gave the Democrats a roadmap for dealing with the debt ceiling, along with several months of warning, the US debt limit still had turned into an increasingly partisan affair. The Republicans were trying to force the Democrats into unpopular votes to enable more borrowing. “I suggest that our Democratic colleagues get moving,” McConnell said at the Capitol, according to the Associated Press. Biden, meanwhile, told reporters that he planned to talk with McConnell. 

“We have no list of demands. For two and a half months, we have simply warned that since your party wishes to govern alone, it must handle the debt limit alone as well,” the Kentucky senator, meanwhile, wrote in the Monday letter accessed by AP. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in her projection that the US government will exhaust its cash reserves on 18 October, and the economy will spiral into a financial crisis. 

US top economic policymakers warn of ‘devastating’ impact of debt default

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday testified before the Senate Committee about the progress that has been made in economic recovery amid COVID. The two US officials warned that the economic recovery from the pandemic could grind to a halt if the government’s borrowing limit was not raised by 18 October. They warned that no uncertain terms about the risks would remain if Congress failed to pass a bill to fund the government and raise the country’s debt ceiling next month. While testifying before the Senate, Yellen warned that the “full faith and credit of the US would be impaired, and our country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession," according to reports. She added that a failure to raise the borrowing limit would likely send interest payments on the national debt.  

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Published October 5th, 2021 at 07:00 IST

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