President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress prepared votes to head off a government shutdown and a potentially economically crippling U.S. credit default on Tuesday, but a quick resolution appeared unlikely in the face of continued Republican resistance.
With government borrowing authority due to run out on Oct. 18, Democrats said they would advance votes to head off a possible debt default in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
But the effort to raise the nation’s $28.4 debt limit appeared headed for failure, as Republican Senator Ted Cruz said he would block a vote in that chamber. Senate Republicans on Monday had blocked a vote to deal with the two issues simultaneously.
