Rep. Dingell cancels trip to officiate wedding in Italy for possible debt vote

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) canceled a planned trip to officiate a wedding in Italy to remain available for a possible vote to raise the debt ceiling in the coming days. 

Dingell said Friday in an interview with The Hill on NewsNation that the situation where Congress even needs to vote to raise the debt ceiling for the country to avoid a potential default shows irresponsibility on the part of the members. 

“I also think it’s irresponsible that we are in this situation right now where we are, that I had to cancel going to Italy for the wedding that I was supposed to officiate at,” Dingell said. “Because … our job, all of our job is to get these kinds of things done. We cannot default.”

“The impact that it’d have on working men and women across this country for years to come is unacceptable.” 

Her remarks come as lawmakers and the White House try to reach a deal to raise the debt limit. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday updated the department’s “X-date” projection, telling lawmakers that a default could happen as soon as June 5 — instead of the original June 1 prediction — giving negotiators a few additional days to reach an agreement. 

Dingell said she would not automatically commit to supporting any deal that the White House and Republican lawmakers reach but would look into what is in the proposal and how it would affect her constituents. She said she expects most lawmakers will do the same. 

The Michigan Democrat added that she will explain her reasoning after she decides whether to support the agreement. 

“I am not a rubber stamp. I wasn’t sent to Congress to be a rubber stamp,” Dingell said, echoing remarks House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y. made a day before. “I need to read that bill know what’s in it and how it’s going to impact the people in my district.”

Jeffries warned on Thursday that the members of the Democratic Caucus would not automatically get behind any deal that President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) make. 

“It’s a miscalculation to assume that simply any agreement that House Republicans are able to reach will, by definition, trigger a sufficient number of Democratic votes — if that agreement undermines our values,” Jeffries told reporters.