FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday that she hopes Congress will pass legislation raising the U.S. debt ceiling by the end of July without making the issue a major topic of debate or linking its passage to other measures.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told a briefing she didn’t believe the U.S. debt ceiling should be held hostage to political considerations, noting that debate over raising it in the past had caused a downgrade in the U.S. credit rating.

“Let’s save our debate for another subject,” Pelosi told reporters.