US Senate scrambles to pass debt bill before default deadline
- At least two Republican lawmakers have threatened to tie up the Senate floor if their demands aren’t met, which could delay the vote past June 5
- Any change to the bill that sends it back to the House would ‘almost guarantee default’, says top Democrat Chuck Schumer
Senators scrambled Thursday to agree on a plan for swift consideration of the debt-limit deal forged by US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ahead of a June 5 deadline to avert a destabilising default.
The two parties met separately for lunch behind closed doors to sort through which amendments could be considered, and how best to pacify hawkish Republicans demanding assurances of an emergency defence bill later this year.
“Things are moving in the right direction,” Republican Senator Susan Collins, a moderate from Maine, said midafternoon.
At least two Republicans – Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – have threatened to tie up the Senate floor if their demands aren’t met, a move that could push a vote past the default deadline.
Collins and other senators huddled on the floor and in hallways throughout the morning. Later, independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, known for deal-making, ducked her head into the Republican lunch to thunderous applause.