The Senate voted Thursday to approve a House-passed measure that will temporarily allow lawmakers to fast track an increase to the debt limit with a simple majority, bringing Congress one step closer to averting a major fiscal crisis.
The final vote on the measure, which also includes temporarily blocking cuts to Medicare that would have gone into effect Jan. 1, was 59-35 – an earlier procedural vote to limit debate and advance the bill passed with a 64-36 margin.
The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature, setting up a likely vote early next week to increase the debt limit ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline.
Raising the debt limit typically requires 60 votes to overcome the legislative filibuster threshold, but Thursday’s action will allow Senate lawmakers to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing limit using a simple 51-vote majority.
Such a move will allow Democrats to avoid the possibility that the United States will default on its debts for the first time in its history.
Republicans had previously refused to increase the debt ceiling and urged Democrats to go it alone, despite the fact that lawmakers have voted to raise the debt limit under both Democratic and Republican control of both the White House and Congress. For example, Democrats joined Republicans three times under former President Donald Trump in hiking the limit.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had been privately meeting and hashing out an agreement to address the debt limit in recent weeks, emerging with this compromise earlier this week.
Members of the Senate GOP who voted to limit debate include Minority Leader McConnell and Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mitt Romney, R-Utah, John Cornyn, R-Texas, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Sens. Barrasso, Blunt, Capito, Collins, McConnell, Murkowski, Portman, Romney, Thune and Tillis voted to ultimately pass the measure.
A separate vote to raise the debt ceiling, possibly by as much as $2.5 trillion, is expected as early as next week. Raising the debt limit does not authorize new spending.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has urged Congress to quickly take action, saying that the debt limit could be reached by Dec. 15 and the government would no longer be able to act on its obligations. Yellen has previously warned that a default could result in “catastrophic” consequences for both the U.S. and the global economy, as well as stock markets.
“The nation’s debt has been incurred on a bipartisan basis, so I’m pleased that this responsible action will be taken today to facilitate a process that avoids a default,” Majority Leader Schumer said Thursday ahead of the vote, adding: “I’m optimistic that after today’s vote, we’ll be on a glide path to avoid a catastrophic default.”
Schumer thanked his Republican counterpart for coming together on an agreement, saying that their discussions on the topic “were fruitful, candid, productive.”
Republicans previously joined Democrats on a short-term increase to increase the debt limit in October, kicking the can down the road to December, but warned they would not offer their aid to do so again.
A number of Republicans were furious about the agreement and accused McConnell of caving to Democrats.
“It sure as hell sets in motion playing with the rules of the Senate in a fashion that I never even thought of until 24 hours ago,” Sen, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “I want to make this hard, not easy, because I think what we’re doing is going to really change the structure of the Senate and certainly going to do a lot of damage to the Republican Party.”
Former President Donald Trump also slammed the Republican leader, saying in a statement Wednesday that “Mitch McConnell just folded on the Debt Ceiling, a total victory for the Democrat,” calling him a “disaster.”
The opposition to the debt limit will likely portend Republicans’ 2022 midterm strategy of accusing Democrats of racking up trillions in debt, despite the fact that the more than $29 trillion national debt was incurred by leaders of both parties – including a rise of roughly $7.8 trillion under former President Trump’s single White House term alone.
McConnell, for his part, said Tuesday that averting a fiscal crisis is “in the best interest of the country” and “in the best interest of Republicans.”
