Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the incoming Senate Majority Leader, said Thursday that he's "open to suggestions" on raising or eliminating the debt ceiling.
President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News that eliminating the debt limit is "the smartest thing" Congress could do, adding that he "would support that entirely."
Trump later said that the debt ceiling "doesn't mean anything, except psychologically."
"I don't know if I've heard him say" Congress should abolish the debt ceiling, Thune told reporters when asked about Trump's comments, but added that he's "open to suggestions" about how to avoid a government shutdown if Congress doesn't pass a spending bill by Friday.
"I think that, at some point, we're going to have to deal with [the debt ceiling]," Thune said. "It's coming. How we deal with it, I'm open to suggestions."
"I do know there are different theories about how to deal with the debt limit going forward. If it was effective, we wouldn't have a $35 trillion debt. So the debt limit for all intents and purposes has limited meaning in the modern world, but it is something that markets obviously pay attention to."
"In terms of how we're going to address it, I'm not sure exactly what that looks like at the moment," Thune added.