WASHINGTON U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he expected the debt ceiling bill to pass the House of Representatives on Wednesday and come to the Senate as soon as Thursday.

"We anticipate the bill passing and coming over to us as soon as tomorrow," McConnell told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. "We had a healthy discussion at lunch about the pros and cons."

The U.S. House of Representatives is due to vote on Wednesday on a bill to lift the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilizing default that could come early next week without congressional action.

McConnell said he hoped the Senate could finish the bill on Thursday or Friday and thinks the bill should be supported.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)