The bill adopted on Friday would give the National Flood Insurance Program the authority to borrow $9.7 billion to fill claims stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy and other disasters.
Senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have repeatedly said there are no contingency plans if lawmakers do not give the U.S. government the authority to borrow more money.
The constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to borrow money.
"Look," Mr. Carney said, sounding slightly exasperated to reporters, "our view is, the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to borrow money, and only Congress can increase the debt ceiling.
"The Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the authority to borrow money, and only Congress can increase the debt ceiling," Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said on Thursday, adding that Congress must "authorize the Treasury to pay the bills that Congress racked up".
The second ballot proposal on spending would give New Jersey, the nation's most densely populated state, the authority to borrow $200 million more to preserve open spaces.
If the F.D.I.C.'s reserve fund cannot cover its costs, it has the authority to borrow money from the Treasury.
This is, of course, an unusual year for New York, with the added costs and reduced revenues resulting from Sept. 11, and the state has given the city authority to borrow additional money.
Congress has given the Treasury Department authority to borrow money into next March, eliminating a must-pass legislative vehicle that either side might use to make demands.
Some Democrats have suggested that the Constitution gives the president authority to borrow more on his own.
