The U.S. House sent President Joe Biden legislation Tuesday night increasing the statutory debt ceiling just enough to get the Treasury Department into early December without defaulting on the nation’s debts. That follows a deal Senate leaders passed last week.

Democrats cannot count on the Republican support they would need to pass a longer-term solution to the looming debt crisis through regular order, which means they have just a few weeks to address the issue or trigger the nation’s first-ever debt default on spending that has already been approved.

It keeps the issue on the same timeline as Congress’ appropriations work; the stopgap spending bill under which the entire federal government is currently operating expires Dec. 3.

Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Andrew Walker