Chuck Schumer’s plan, it seems, is to either compel GOP senators to vote for the debt ceiling increase or to expose them as hypocritical nihilists. This approach has been a disastrous failure, because they won’t vote for the increase, and everyone already knows that they are hypocritical nihilists. The GOP base actually gives them kudos for that.
On its face, Mitch McConnell’s plan is to force the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own, and then to attack them as big spenders and socialists. That won’t work, either, because the voters don’t care much about the deficit, and because raising the debt ceiling only covers past spending decisions—including those made on a bipartisan basis while Trump was in office.
In reality, McConnell is hoping that the Democrats screw up, the debt ceiling is not raised, chaos ensues, and the Democrats get the blame. It is completely fair to describe this as vandalism at the highest level, but it might work.
Pressuring the GOP on this issue is hopeless. The best solution would be to eliminate debt ceiling filibusters, and vote on party lines for the increase. In the meantime, wake me up when it is over.