Democrats pressure GOP on debt limit, spending cuts

By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are looking to pressure Republicans into resolving the impasse on the debt ceiling. The Democrats are holding a hearing Thursday to examine a debt limit bill recently passed by the Republican majority in the House. They say that bill would force painful cuts in government services if it becomes law. It’s just the latest jousting in Congress over the debt limit, a legal limit on government borrowing that has been raised repeatedly in recent years. Urgency around the issue intensified this week as the Treasury Department announced that the “extraordinary measures” being used to avoid a devastating government default could run out on June 1.