That is almost precisely what they did, just that this is a budget argument rather than a debt ceiling. Their continuing resolution was to fund the government the same as prior. The Democrats have voted against just staying the course, and are demanding provisions be added to extend or reinstate temporary measures from the pandemic. If taken as a statement on policy, their votes against would say that we must agree to make pandemic response permanent healthcare policy immediately (as they'd have the same opportunity in like 2 months) or it's better to not fund the government at all.
Or maybe it's just politics and they think they can tank the Republicans' approval...