The Hill News

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said the current stalemate over the debt ceiling is an opportunity to address the medium-term fiscal health of the nation during an interview Saturday with Fox News.

Bennet said he supports Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) budget deal but thinks it will have trouble passing the Senate, let alone the House in its current form. But he appeared confident a compromise would be possible.

“Now is the time of divided government,” Bennet said. “This is the time to get big things done.”

Bennet is pushing for the final deal to include some sort of trigger or enforcement mechanism on both taxes and cuts to ensure lawmakers revisit the issue of the growing deficit outside the context of the debt ceiling.

Bennet acknowledged the credit ratings agencies may still choose to downgrade the U.S. even after a deal is reached and said the recent partisan display in Washington

"There's nothing like waiting to the last minute to deal with the full faith and credit of the U.S.," Bennet said.