President-elect Trump is right to want Congress to deal with the debt ceiling this week, before he takes office. Congressional Republicans should support Trump and pass a stopgap funding bill that averts a government shutdown and suspends the debt ceiling for at least the next four years.

The president-elect has made it clear that he doesn’t want to deal with the debt ceiling during his second term. Trump went so far as to offer his support for eliminating it entirely, telling NBC News this morning that getting rid of the debt ceiling would be the “smartest thing it [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely.”

Under current law, the debt ceiling is suspended until early next year. The government would run out of funds (most likely) by the middle of 2025 if Congress doesn’t act before then.

It makes sense that Trump would want the debt ceiling off Congress’s plate before he takes office. A messy fight over suspending (or lifting) the debt ceiling would interfere with his plans to cut taxes and increase spending on........

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