By Richard Cowan and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s Democrats will seek on Tuesday to head off two looming dangers to the U.S. economy as they try to keep government operations funded beyond a Thursday deadline and avoid defaulting on its debt.

Both tasks were to be completed by Democrats, however they were stopped Monday morning by Senate Republicans who said that the two must be handled separately. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic Leader, said that more votes are likely but didn’t specify what course of action he would choose.

The deadline for lawmakers to prevent a government shutdown is Thursday at midnight. In the midst of a national crisis, federal employees could be furloughed if they fail to act.

In the second quarter of October, Congress must also find a way for Congress to increase the government’s borrowing cap of $28.4 billion before the Treasury Department runs out on techniques to service its debt.

As increasing polarization and political instability have made it difficult for politicians to control government finances, fiscal brinkmanship is a common feature of U.S. politics.

The latest shutdown, which occurred in January 2019, lasted 35-days.

Schumer declared on Monday, after Monday’s vote that “this isn’t the typical Washington fracas.” This has more dire consequences than a typical political catfight.

Republicans claim they want Democrats lift the debt ceiling on their own and deny they support Democrats’ massive spending plans. Democrats remind that the Trump Administration incurred a large portion of our new debt.

Biden’s Democrats would suffer a major blow if the government shuts down or worse, defaults. They have been positioned as the party that is responsible for government following Trump’s chaos presidency.

The Democrats have also struggled to rally behind the two main pillars of Biden’s domestic agenda, a $1 trillion bill for infrastructure and $3.5 trillion package for social spending. Their margins of error are very limited with narrow majorities in both Congress and the House of Representatives.

The progressives are concerned that Congress will prioritize spending on roads, broadband, and other infrastructure and they could lose the ability to implement their plans to increase health and education benefits as well as combat climate change.

The social spending package is too large for centrist Democrats. Sources say that the White House and high ranking lawmakers might reduce some benefits in order to lower the cost, but have not yet settled on a number.

Nancy Pelosi, House speaker has decided to vote Thursday for the infrastructure package. This is despite the threat of torpedoing by the progressive wing of the party.

After a Monday night meeting, House Democrats were confident that they would eventually unite behind both bills.

Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski, a Democratic Representative, stated to reporters that “The Biden presidency relies on both these things.”