Jeffries won’t rule out short-term debt limit hike to avoid default

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) during an interview on Sunday didn’t rule out agreeing to a short-term move to temporarily raise the debt ceiling and make the debt ceiling and budget deadlines match up as lawmakers and the White House work against the threat of default.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Democrats would agree to such a move, Jeffries said he didn’t think the move would be a “responsible” solution. 

“Is the obvious solution here a short term punt?” Todd asked. “And it looks like this: you essentially raise the debt ceiling through September 30 and make the debt ceiling and the budget deadlines converge.”

“I don’t think the responsible thing is to kick the can down the road,” Jeffries said.

“America should pay its bills and protect the full faith and credit of the United States of America, but we, of course, are open to having a discussion about what type of investments, what type of spending, what type of revenues are appropriate in order to protect the health, safety and economic well-being of the American people,” he added.

Todd pressed the House minority leader, asking if he was fully ruling the short-term move out. 

“We have to avoid default, period. Full stop,” Jeffries responded.

“I think what’s in front of us right now is that President Biden has convened a very important discussion on Tuesday so we can find a way forward to do what is necessary to continue to strengthen our economy in a manner that benefits everyday Americans,” the lawmaker added.

Lawmakers and the White House have been locked in battle over how to deal with the debt ceiling as the U.S. approaches a looming June 1 deadline, at which point the Treasury Department has warned it could run out of ways to ward off a default.

House Republicans are demanding that a debt limit hike come with spending cuts, while the White House has pushed for a “clean” debt limit increase.

–Updated at 10:49 a.m.