Senate approve debt ceiling bill to avoid US default on debt, measure heads to ... trends now
The Senate, led by moderates in both parties, overwhelmingly approved the so-called 'compromise' on the debt ceiling negotiated by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Thursday night.
The deal helps fend off a U.S. default, as the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to Biden's desk to become law.
The package negotiated between Biden and McCarthy leaves neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased with the outcome.
But the result, after weeks of hard-fought budget negotiations, shelves the volatile debt ceiling issue that risked upending the U.S. and global economy until 2025 after the next presidential election.
Approval in the Senate on a bipartisan vote, 63-36, reflected the overwhelming House tally the day before, relying on centrists in both parties to pull the Biden-McCarthy package to passage.
In this image from Senate Television, the final vote of 63-36 shows passage of the bill to raise the debt ceiling Thursday night, June 1, 2023, in the Senate at the Capitol in Washington. President Joe Biden is expected to quickly sign the bill that will stave off default
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill's passage means 'America can breathe a sigh of relief.'
He said, 'We are avoiding default.'
Biden said in a statement after the vote that senators from both parties 'demonstrated once more that America is a nation that pays its bills and meets its obligations - and always will be.'
He said he would sign the bill into law as soon as possible. 'No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: this bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,' the president said.
The White House said he would address the nation about the matter at 7 p.m. EDT Friday.
Fast action was vital if Washington hoped to meet next Monday's deadline, when Treasury has said the U.S. will start running short of cash to pay its bills, risking a devastating default.
Raising the nation´s debt limit, now $31.4 trillion, would ensure Treasury could borrow to pay already incurred U.S. debts.
In the end, the debt ceiling showdown was a familiar high-stakes battle in Congress, a fight taken on by McCarthy and powered by a hard-right House Republican majority confronting the Democratic president with a new era of divided government in Washington.
Biden said in a statement after the vote that senators from both parties 'demonstrated once more that America is a nation that pays its bills and meets its obligations - and always will be'
In the end, the debt ceiling showdown was a familiar high-stakes battle in Congress, a fight taken on by McCarthy and powered by a hard-right House Republican majority confronting the Democratic president with a new era of divided government in Washington.
Refusing a once routine vote to allow a the nation's debt limit to be lifted without concessions, McCarthy brought Biden's White House to the negotiating table to strike an agreement that forces spending cutbacks aimed at curbing the nation's deficits.
Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years, suspends the debt ceiling into January 2025 and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose.
