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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the chairman of the conservative Senate Republican Leadership Committee, is threatening to use “every procedural tool” at his disposal to block the Senate’s passage of a bill to increase the debt ceiling if it doesn’t. include “substantial” reforms.<\/p>\n
Lee could drag out a bill for days, something negotiators may now have to factor into their timeline as they scramble to reach a deal before the nation defaults.<\/p>\n
“I will use every procedural tool at my disposal to prevent a debt ceiling deal that does not contain substantial spending and budget reforms. I fear that things are moving in that direction. If they do, this proposal will not go smoothly in the Senate,\u201d Lee said he tweeted Thursday morning in response<\/a> to media reports that White House negotiators and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are nearing an agreement on spending levels.<\/p>\n Lee has a number of tools at his disposal to block any debt limit deal.<\/p>\n He could insist on a full reading of the bill and refuse to agree to waive motions to skip other time-consuming procedural steps in the Senate.<\/p>\n The final deal is likely to fall short of major reforms included in the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which the House passed last month.<\/p>\n That bill would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $4.8 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years.<\/p>\n