WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday at Republican leaders in Congress, suggesting that efforts to increase the country's borrowing limit to avoid an economy-rattling default on the nation's debt are "a mess."
On Twitter, Trump said he had asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to attach legislation to increase the country's $19.9 trillion borrowing limit to a bill he recently signed related to veterans. Trump said they didn't do it and "now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up."
Raising the federal borrowing limit is a must-do item for Congress when lawmakers return to Washington from their summer break. Congress faces a mid-October deadline to increase the government's borrowing authority and avoid defaulting on U.S. obligations.
Adding to the complexity, Congress needs to pass stopgap legislation to avert a government shutdown when the budget year ends Sept. 30.
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At an event with Boeing employees in suburban Seattle, Ryan insisted Thursday that Congress would "pass legislation to make sure that we pay our debts." He added, "I'm not worried that's not going to get done because it's going to get done."
Ryan also said he and Trump are in "constant contact" to work on a policy agenda, adding that "for me, it's really important the president succeeds because if he succeeds then the country succeeds."
Later, in an interview with CNBC, Ryan said he didn't view Trump's tweets as "going after me." He also said the idea of tying debt-ceiling legislation to the veterans bill had been considered but there are other options.
McConnell, at an event in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, did not respond to questions about Trump's comments. During an appearance earlier this week with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, McConnell said "there is zero chance, no chance, we won't raise the debt ceiling."
The federal government has never defaulted on debt payments. Financial experts and economists have warned that default on U.S. bond payments could roil financial markets.
Raising the debt ceiling has confounded Congress before. A 2011 standoff between Republicans and President Barack Obama's administration over raising borrowing authority led to tighter controls on spending. That standoff was not resolved until the eleventh hour and prompted Standard & Poor's to impose the first-ever downgrade on the country's credit rating.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said Thursday that with Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the party needs to develop a plan to deal with the debt ceiling.
"With so much at risk for hardworking families, Republicans need to stop the chaos and sort themselves out in a hurry," she said in a statement.
BORDER WALL
Trump's long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexican border could complicate efforts to keep the government running. Trump threatened Tuesday to force a federal shutdown unless Congress provides funds for the project.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Thursday that the president was serious about moving forward with the wall.
Speaking on Fox and Friends, Conway said Trump is "going to stick to building that wall, and he wants the money to pay for it." She added that "anybody who is surprised by that has not been paying attention for two years."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said raising the debt ceiling and securing the U.S. border was a "good combination" and suggested that Republicans force Democrats into difficult votes over the borrowing limit.
"Let's put them in a box when it comes to the debt ceiling. The president is not crazy to attack the Congress. He's not crazy to think of ways to put Democrats in a bad spot regarding the debt ceiling. They do this all the time to us," Graham said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
But U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said shutting down the government over a border wall would be a mistake.
"We don't need a government shutdown -- that never ends well. We don't save money doing it," Flake said Thursday on Fox News.
Flake, whose criticisms of Trump have drawn the president's ire, also said that a solid 2,000-mile border wall "doesn't make sense in some areas" and shouldn't be pursued "to just fulfill a campaign promise."
Trump attacked McConnell on Twitter again later in the morning, this time over failed efforts to advance health care legislation.
He wrote: "The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed! That should NEVER have happened!"
The latest tweets from the president came a day after Trump and McConnell pledged to work together, even as there reportedly is tension between them.
White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted Thursday that the president's relationships with GOP leaders "are fine."
DEBT CEILING
Asked about the debt ceiling, Sanders put the onus on Congress to resolve the matter, saying it's the White House's job "to inform Congress of the debt ceiling, and it's their job to raise it."
She added that the White House was looking for a "clean" debt ceiling bill -- without any legislative add-ons. But tea party Republicans and outside conservative groups are demanding spending cuts as the price for increasing the borrowing limit.
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who's a member of the budget and appropriations committees, said in an interview that he and some other GOP lawmakers want the debt ceiling "tied to something that changes the trajectory of our debt." But, Cole said, he expects the debt ceiling to be raised without the changes he wants.
The government spends more money than it brings in through revenue, and it borrows money to cover the difference by issuing debt. The gap between revenue and spending -- known as the deficit -- is expected to top $800 billion for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The deficit has worsened because some companies and others are delaying payments in anticipation of big tax cuts.
But the Treasury can borrow money only up to a limit set by Congress, and this limit is known as the debt ceiling. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could force the government to fall behind or delay some of its payments, an action that could lead to an increase in interest rates, a stock market crash, and a global recession, economists have said.
Moody's Investors Service said in a report Thursday that "the probability that a debt payment would be missed is low." Even so, the "risk for holders of U.S. Treasury bonds created by periods without a solution to the debt ceiling contributes to direct, albeit small, financial cost." The report cited a Government Accountability Office report saying that the 2011 battle over the debt ceiling cost the government $1.3 billion that fiscal year.
A missed debt payment would have "negative rating implications," according to Moody's.
MEDIA COMMENTS
Also Thursday, Trump shifted his focus on Twitter briefly to the Obama administration.
The president shared a post from one user that was critical of the former president. In a sequence of four pictures, an image of Trump is shown moving in front of one of Obama. A caption reads, in capitalized letters, "The best eclipse ever!"
And Trump called out Obama's director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who has publicly questioned whether Trump is fit to be president.
"I really question his ability to -- his fitness to be in this office," Clapper said on CNN this week.
On Twitter, Trump wrote, "James Clapper, who famously got caught lying to Congress, is now an authority on Donald Trump. Will he show you his beautiful letter to me?"
Trump also lashed out at the media Thursday for reports about the different styles of his recent public speeches.
"The Fake News is now complaining about my different types of back to back speeches. Well, there was Afghanistan (somber), the big Rally (enthusiastic, dynamic and fun) and the American Legion -- V.A. (respectful and strong). Too bad the Dems have no one who can change tones!" Trump wrote.
Several news outlets wrote articles contrasting his speaking style at recent appearances, including in Arizona at a campaign-style rally Tuesday and at an American Legion convention Wednesday.
Information for this article was contributed by Ken Thomas, Catherine Lucey and Adam Beam of The Associated Press; by Philip Rucker and Damian Paletta of The Washington Post; by Toluse Olorunnipa, Erik Wasson and Alexandra Harris of Bloomberg News; and by Eileen Sullivan and Nicholas Fandos of The New York Times.
A Section on 08/25/2017