{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2021/10/kicking-the-debt-limit-can-down-the-road-creates-unnecessary-uncertainty-for-u-s-economy-stanton-says", "Kicking the Debt Limit Can Down the Road Creates Unnecessary Uncertainty for U.S. Economy, Stanton Says", "2021-10-12", "2021", "2021-10", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "The U.S. Senate\u2019s inability to find a more permanent solution to modifying the nation\u2019s debt limit creates further unnecessary uncertainty for the nation\u2019s economy and illustrates how the Senate\u2019s inability to get things done is hurting the country, Rep. Greg Stanton said today.\n\n\u201cTemporarily avoiding economic catastrophe is low bar and should not be celebrated as a real accomplishment,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cThis rolling, manufactured crisis continues to hurt American consumers, risking America\u2019s full faith and credit and putting our national economy at serious risk.\u201d\n\nHe continued: \u201cThe Senate minority\u2019s willingness to meet the most basic obligations to the American economy depends on which political party is in the White House. And yet, the majority enables this behavior by preserving the filibuster, which only allows for further dysfunction. The American people deserve far better than what they\u2019re getting from the United States Senate.\u201d\n\nToday\u2019s House vote would approve a temporary delay of the debt limit crisis\u2014kicking the can down the road until approximately mid-December or early January and requiring further congressional action. Senate Republican leadership has signaled an unwillingness to provide the necessary votes to overcome the filibuster and raise the limit again, setting up another potential showdown and corresponding market turmoil.\n\nThe United States has never defaulted on its obligations to pay its accrued debt\u2014nearly $8 trillion of which was accrued under President Donald Trump. Not paying the government\u2019s bills would diminish the full faith and credit of the United States, throw global markets into turmoil, plunge the country into a recession and threaten the economic security of millions of Americans at a time when the country is just beginning to recover from the economic effects of the pandemic.\n\nThe White House Council of Economic Advisors warns that \u201ca default would fundamentally hinder the Federal government from serving the American people,\u201d and it could take decades for the country to recover. Tens of millions of people could lose the regular Federal payments that help them to make ends meet, such as Social Security and Medicaid, overnight. The basic functions of the Federal government\u2014including maintaining national defense and the public health system\u2014would be hindered.\n\nBut right now, markets and consumers are being hurt by the ongoing threat of a default.\n\nEconomists are warning that just the uncertainty during this extended standoff can impact borrowing terms and borrowing availability, and that lenders may start tightening their standards in advance to reduce their risk\u2014which could cause a cascading financial crisis on its own. As seen in the run-up to and aftermath of the 2011 debt ceiling crisis (where the country ultimately avoided a default), market risk measures rose persistently, and measures of consumer confidence and small business optimism weakened. Rates for mortgages, auto and personal loans, and other consumer financial products all rose.\n\nIn 2011, after a prolonged debt ceiling crisis similar to the current one, Standard & Poor\u2019s removed the United States government from its list of risk-free borrowers for the first time, explaining: \u201cThe downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenge.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stanton.house.gov/2021/10/kicking-the-debt-limit-can-down-the-road-creates-unnecessary-uncertainty-for-u-s-economy-stanton-says"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8223149925470352, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}