WASHINGTON • The Senate showed no sign of moving to avoid a looming debt-ceiling crisis on Thursday, as Republicans rejected calls to raise the $31.4 trillion limit without conditions and Democrats dismissed the idea of talks.

A day after the House of Representatives approved a Republican package that would lift the borrowing limit and slash federal spending, lawmakers in both parties dug in as the clock ticked toward a potential first default that could cripple the economy and unsettle financial markets worldwide.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had pushed the bill through along narrow party lines in hopes of jumpstarting talks with Democratic President Joe Biden on lifting the limit, a move needed to cover the costs of tax cuts and spending previously approved by Congress.

“The president is the person who now has the ball in his court. The House has passed a measure.

They’ve raised the debt ceiling,” Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said. “It’s time for the president to respond other than to say, ‘no’.”

But Democrats countered that while Biden and McCarthy could talk at any time about spending and the deficit, Republicans should not use the debt ceiling to force concessions.

“You don’t use brinkmanship on not paying our bills to back people into a corner,” Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said.

“The president should sit down with McCarthy anytime, sure. But not to discuss paying our bills.”