US Senate races to vote on debt ceiling bill

The US Senate is gearing up to vote on legislation to prevent a historic default on the nation’s debt, as lawmakers in the upper house of Congress raced to approve a bipartisan fiscal deal on Thursday night.

The push in the upper chamber of Congress, controlled by Democrats, came a day after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to remove the US borrowing limit and cap new government spending.

The bill approved by the House and being considered in the Senate reflects a compromise negotiated by President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the past two weeks. If no deal is reached, the US risks running out of money to pay its bills on June 5.

On Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the upper house would remain in session until the debt ceiling bill was approved. Lawmakers often try to leave Washington for the weekend to return to their constituencies, and Schumer’s decision was seen as an attempt to get legislation done quickly.

“I hope that very soon we can end up putting defaults in our rear-view mirrors,” Schumer said.

He said: “It’s the best thing we can do right now for our economy and for American families. I’m optimistic the Senate is going to get it done, but it will take a more concrete, focused and bipartisan effort to get us over the finish line.” Will be shocked.

The strong bipartisan vote in the House, with 314 lawmakers voting in favor and 117 rejecting the deal, has boosted its chances of quickly passing through the Senate. Once it clears the Senate, it is expected to be signed into law by Biden.

For the bill to pass, Schumer would have to reach a procedural agreement with top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell to delay the legislation or prevent efforts to replace it.

There are several senators from both parties who are opposed to the deal or parts of it. Even though there is no formal limit on defense spending, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is concerned that it could exceed the Pentagon’s budget limit in the future, and sought reassurance that further military outlays can be approved separately. .

“You can’t say with a straight face that this military budget is a response to Chinese aggression, it is sufficient to allow us to defeat Putin,” Graham said. “A military budget should be based on threats, not political deals to avoid default.”

Two Democratic senators from Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, are objecting to a last-minute inclusion in the agreement of a provision that would have accelerated the completion of a controversial natural gas pipeline.

Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders has said he will vote against the deal because it cuts spending without raising taxes on the wealthy.

But any amendment to the law would have to clear a 60-vote threshold that could be difficult to achieve with Schumer and McConnell committed to passing the bill unchanged as soon as possible.

Any changes to the law would send it back to the House, making it nearly impossible for the bill to be enacted before June 5.