McConnell said he was left with one option: Avoid economic catastrophe. McConnell: I 'protect' the country

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he voted to advance a clean debt-ceiling bill this week because his job is “to protect the country” when he can.

The Republican leader said at a Friday campaign event in Louisville, Ky., that he has long preferred making structural changes to fiscal policy as a condition to raising the debt ceiling.


But given that the House could pass only a clean debt ceiling — every policy rider House Speaker John Boehner tried to attach failed to garner sufficient support — McConnell said he was left with one option: Avoid economic catastrophe.

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McConnell and most of his leadership team voted to break a filibuster demanded by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), to the ire of many conservatives and to the surprise of Capitol Hill, given his recently stated opposition to any clean increase of the debt ceiling.

“We were confronted with a clean debt ceiling in the Senate or default. I believe I have to act in the best interests of the country, and every time we’ve been confronted with a potential crisis, the guy you’re looking at is the one who stepped up to solve the problem,” McConnell told reporters, according to Associated Press video.

McConnell then explained his leading roles in evading the fiscal cliff two years ago and his work with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to reopen the government and avert default last October.

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“It was clear that we needed to produce enough procedural votes to get to a debt ceiling vote in order to avoid a default. My job is to protect the country when I can, and to step up and lead on those occasions when it’s required. That’s what I did,” said McConnell, who faces both primary and general election opponents in a tough path toward reelection.

After McConnell whipped his caucus to defeat the conservative-led filibuster during a dramatic hourlong vote in which several GOP lawmakers changed their positions from “nay” to “yea,” he and the rest of his caucus voted against final passage of raising the debt ceiling until March 15, 2015. The bill passed solely with Democratic votes and is now on its way to the president’s desk.