House returns to stave off default with debt-limit vote

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the House are scrambling to Washington to pass a short-term lift of the nation’s debt limit. The vote Tuesday will ensure the federal government can continue fully paying its bills into December. House Democrats are expected to have enough votes on their own to ensure that President Joe Biden can sign the bill into law this week. A default would have had immense fallout on global financial markets, and routine government payments to Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans and others would have been called into question. But the relief provided by the bill’s passage will only be temporary, forcing Congress to revisit the issue in December.