The Senate is on track to raise the debt ceiling for two months, averting a potential default days before the U.S. is set to run out of money but ultimately punting on a politically volatile issue until December. After Republican resistance during a weekslong standoff over lifting the debt limit, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky gave Democrats a short-term offer. By Thursday morning, the parties clinched a deal to lift the country's borrowing limit by $480 billion. Democrats initially pushed for raising the cap through 2022 but Republicans wouldn't sign off and blocked the measure twice. But the short-term agreement effectively delays the issue to the winter when both parties will be forced to reconcile their differences or face a fiscal disaster. On Thursday evening, senators will take two votes to raise the debt ceiling. First, the Senate will hold a procedural vote to overcome a GOP filibuster. With a split 50-50 chamber, Democrats are expected to get the 10 Republicans they need to join them to move toward final passage. After hours of searching for enough votes in the party, Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota told reporters prior to the votes that there will be 10 Republicans voting to break the filibuster. If the procedural vote passes, the Senate will then move to a vote on the actual measure but this time, only a simple majority is needed. If no Republicans support it, Vice President Kamala Harris will cast the tie-breaking vote. "We have reached an agreement to extend the debt ceiling through early December, and it's our hope that we can get this done as soon as today," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said earlier Thursday. Thursday's deal momentarily breaks an impasse on an issue that has been politically fraught for years. But come December, party leaders will be back in the same position since Republicans don't intend to help Democrats break more filibusters on a longer-term measure. Meanwhile, Congress will also face a Dec. 3 deadline to fund the government – another must-pass item lawmakers punted until the winter. McConnell and Republicans have opposed lending any support to Democrats on the debt ceiling even as the country faced the possibility of defaulting if Congress didn't act by Oct. 18. Republicans still want Democrats to do it on their own through a lengthy budgetary process, which would allow them to act through a simple majority and without any GOP votes.