US narrowly avoids default, punting next debt limit showdown to 2023
- US lawmakers vote to raise federal debt limit hours before deadline set by Treasury
- Congress debt deal defuses a volatile issue until after next year’s midterm elections
The passage follows a months-long stand-off between Democrats and Republicans, with the latter seeking to force Biden’s party to raise the debt limit on its own from the current US$28.9 trillion level, generating fodder for attack ads during the 2022 congressional elections.
A deal last week between Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, set the stage for Tuesday’s vote, bypassing normal Senate rules requiring at least 60 of the chamber’s 100 members to agree to advance most legislation. The Senate passed the bill earlier on Tuesday in a partisan 50-49 vote.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives approved the bill in a 221-209 vote.
Schumer said the increase would cover the government’s needs into 2023, through the November 8 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had urged Congress to hike the debt limit before Wednesday.
Under the unusual deal worked out by Schumer and McConnell, and approved by both chambers last week, legislation raising the debt ceiling could be passed this one time in the Senate by a simple majority, which meant Democrats could get it through on their own.