Short-Term Increase in Debt Limit Suggested

“If we can’t do something really significant about the debt ceiling, then we’ll probably end up with a very short- term proposal over a few months, and we’ll be back having the same discussion in the fall,” Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said Sunday on the CBS program “Face the Nation.”

Economists and Obama administration officials are warning of a calamity if the government defaults on its obligations. The default deadline is Aug. 2.