Debt Limit Increase Passed By Senate
We Did It, Joe!
Late Thursday, the Senate passed an agreement to prevent the first-ever US default.
A day after passing the House, the bipartisan debt limit increase bill cleared the Senate by a vote of 63 to 36. Resident Joe Biden has promised to sign the bill into law as soon as he receives it.
With the United States scheduled to default on its $31.4 trillion debt on June 5th, the new move is expected to avert economic catastrophe.
If Washington State defaults, it could affect its ability to borrow money and make payments. It might set off financial chaos in other countries, leading to sharply lower prices and mortgage rates.
Forty-four Democrats, seventeen Republicans, and two independents voted in favor of the bill. John Barrasso, a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate, was one of the 31 Republicans who voted no. In order to pass officially, the bill needed 60 votes out of a possible 100.
The Debt Ceiling
Raising the debt ceiling had been a contentious issue between Republicans and Democrats for weeks. Prolonged arguments over spending priorities have raised concerns that the Republican majority in the House would be unable to rally behind the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Some Republicans have previously called Biden’s and the Democrats’ use of the fear of a US default on its debt a “scare technique” to force through their spending agenda.
Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, has also spoken out against the legislation. If he had been unable to negotiate a favorable arrangement, he “would have taken the default,” he said on a Des Moines radio station earlier this week.
