U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California) leaves his office at the Capitol on May 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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WASHINGTON—A bill to raise the debt ceiling and cap government spending passed the House by a wide margin late Wednesday, with the bill sent to the Senate just days before the U.S. debt default deadline on Monday.
of financial responsibility law It passed 314 to 117 with support from both Democrats and Republicans.
It was the dramatic end to weeks of tense negotiations between the White House and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The drama has now moved to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where leaders on both sides want it to pass within 48 hours. Late Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) took to the nearly empty Senate floor to formally put the bill on the agenda for Thursday.
“We had a very good vote in the House,” Mr. Schumer said.
The reaction of the White House was timed. “Neither side got everything they wanted. That’s the responsibility of governance,” President Joe Biden said in a statement shortly after the vote. Mr Biden thanked Mr McCarthy for “negotiating in good faith” and urged the Senate to pass the bill swiftly.
For McCarthy, the vote was a personal victory worth celebrating. “I’ve been thinking about this day since before I died. [election as] Because I knew the debt ceiling was approaching. He wanted to make history,” he said at a press conference Wednesday night.
“It wasn’t an easy fight. It upset people on both sides,” McCarthy said. “But I think we’ve done some pretty good things for the American people.”
But amidst the celebration, some Republicans remained outraged. Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who spoke out against the bill, said, “The disastrous debt ceiling deal just passed with Democrats outnumbering Republicans.” In a tweet late Wednesday, he criticized the bill as “shameful”, saying it “writes everything there is to know”.
The fact that McCarthy’s bill passed with 165 Democrats and just 149 Republicans was a surprise to many. Earlier in the day, only 29 Republicans had voted against the bill before it entered debate, a final procedural step that is often the litmus test for the final tally. .
But not in this case. On Wednesday night, 71 Republican lawmakers turned against McCarthy and voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said federal funds could dry up in the coming days if lawmakers don’t raise the borrowing limit by next week.
Failure to do so will disrupt global financial markets, cause job losses in the United States, and jeopardize vital government benefits for millions of Americans.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of an agreement reached between McCarthy and Biden that essentially offers conservatives several options in exchange for a vote to raise the debt ceiling beyond next year’s presidential election and into 2025. It was a handed victory on ideological policy.
Most importantly, the bill will avoid a potentially catastrophic U.S. debt default next week if Congress fails to pass the bill by then.
