McConnell told a press conference on Capitol Hill he was confident that the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-run House of Representatives would agree to raise the federal debt ceiling once more so that the US government would not default.
“I don't think there is any chance that we will allow the country to default… We will no doubt do it [raise the debt ceiling] on a bipartisan basis,” he said.
However, McConnell also complained about the “procedural roadblocks” that, he said, Democrats in Congress were placing in front of Republican legislative efforts.
On raising the debt ceiling and approving the next federal budget, “Time is running out … It is serious that we’ve got to work this out and avoid the chaos that comes from our inability to come together on serious issues,” McConnell warned.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to relaunch talks on raising the debt ceiling linked to agreement on budgetary caps for the 2020 federal budget, media reports said on Tuesday.