On Wednesday, the Senate will vote on whether to take up legislation to raise the debt ceiling until December 2022. But with 10 Republican senators needed to join Democrats in support, the vote is expected to fail.
Some Democrats have expressed hope that if curbing the filibuster is the only avenue left, the party could muster 50 votes for the rule change.
Lawmakers have carved out other exceptions to the filibuster in recent years. In 2017, Senate Republicans created one to clear a path for Neil M. Gorsuch, President Donald J. Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, to take the bench. And in 2013, Senate Democrats did so to overcome Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s nominees for cabinet posts and judgeships.
Mr. Biden’s remarks on Tuesday evening, made as he returned to the White House after a trip to Michigan to sell a bipartisan infrastructure package and expansive social spending bill, reflected the president’s increasingly confrontational approach to a divided chamber that has presented him with one legislative obstacle after another as he tries to pass his domestic agenda.
“As soon as this week, your savings and your pocketbook could be directly impacted by this Republican stunt,” Mr. Biden said during remarks at the White House on Monday, cautioning that a failed vote on Wednesday could rattle financial markets, sending stock prices lower and interest rates higher. “A meteor is headed for our economy,” he said.