Senate Republicans blocked a measure to raise the debt limit and provide temporary government funding in a standoff with Democrats over planned legislation that would spend up to $3.5 trillion on social welfare programs.

The vote on Monday was 48-50. Democrats needed at least 10 GOP votes to advance the bill but knew well in advance Republicans would not provide any help.

Democrats must now find another path to raise the debt ceiling and provide a budget before government funding runs out in three days. The fiscal year ends Thursday, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the nation will run out of funding to pay back loans by early October.

In a speech ahead of the vote, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Democrats to decouple the two measures. Democrats blocked a bill introduced by McConnell on Monday that would have provided stopgap government funding until Dec. 3 and emergency aid for states and Afghan refugees.

“We’ll see if Washington Democrats actually want to govern, or whether they want to add the prospects of a government shutdown to the list with inflation, Afghanistan, the border, and all the other national crises that are the direct result of their own decisions,” said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.

Republicans refuse to support a debt limit increase because they say it will be used to fund a massive social welfare spending package Democrats hope to pass unilaterally in the coming weeks.

The bill will likely cost up to $3.5 trillion and would fund an array of new government programs, including free preschool, free community college, paid family and medical leave, expanded Medicare, and more.

Democrats say raising the debt limit must be bipartisan and blamed Trump-era tax cuts for the debt. They hope to pin the blame for the government funding impasse on the GOP.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Republicans “unhinged” and “reckless” for opposing the bill to raise the debt limit and provide government funding.

Schumer said GOP opposition would shut down critical government services and crash the economy “just to score short-term, meaningless political points.”

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Democrats control the House, Senate, and White House, making it unlikely they’ll let the government shutter and default on loans.

Party leaders could decide to attach a debt limit increase to the social welfare package but have rejected the idea so far. Democrats said they are considering other unilateral actions to extend the nation’s borrowing limit but have not provided details.

Original Location: Senate Republicans thwart legislation pairing government funding with debt limit increase

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