The Treasury Secretary on Sunday urged Congress to “put politics aside” and link a Harvey relief package with legislation to raise the debt ceiling to ensure that billions in aid get to the storm-ravaged victims as quickly as possible.
“The president and I believe that it should be tied to the Harvey funding,” Secretary Steve Mnuchin “Our first priority is to make sure the state gets money.… So we need to put politics aside and we are going to be urging Congress to get both of those things done as quickly as they can.”
He had said it’s necessary for Congress to increase the country’s spending limit by the end of September, but acknowledged that Hurricane Harvey has changed the time frame.
“It has moved the situation up earlier. Without raising the debt limit I’m not confident we will get the money we need this month to Texas to rebuild,” Mnuchin said.
During a visit to Texas on Saturday, President Trump said he hoped for a “quick process” to get Congress to approve a nearly $8 billion in initial funding for Harvey victims.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate vowed to cooperate with Trump to get a relief package together but didn’t mention tying it to an increase in the debt ceiling.
“Working closely with the President and the House of Representatives, the Senate stands ready to act quickly to provide this much-needed assistance to th🥃ose impacted communities, and support 🔯first responders and volunteers,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement on Friday.
But some conservative Republicans in the House balked at linking the two issues, saying it would be a “terrible idea.”
Democratic leaders said they are willing to work on a “bipartisan consensus.”
“Providing aid in the wake of Harvey and raising the debt ceiling are both important issues, and Democrats want to work to do both,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Demoratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Given the interplay between all the issues Congress must tackle in September, Democrats and Republicans must discuss all the issues together and come up with a bipartisan consensus.”
The president is expected to meet with congressional leaders this week on the🐼 aid package.