The Senate on Thursday passed the bipartisan debt ceiling bill to suspend the government’s $31.4 trillion (€29.4 trillion) limit on Thursday. The vote was 63-36.
The bill will now go to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The measure suspends the nation’s debt limit through January 1, 2025, to avert a first-ever US default.
Biden, in a statement, thanked Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Tonight, senators from both parties voted to protect the hard-earned economic progress we have made and prevent a first-ever default by the United States. Together, they demonstrated once more that America is a nation that pays its bills and meets its obligations — and always will be. I want to thank Leader Schumer and Leader McConnell for quickly passing the bill,” the President said.
The 99-page bill proposed to restrict spending for the next two years and suspend the debt ceiling into January 2025. The House passed the bill 314-117 on Wednesday. Seventy-one Republicans opposed it, saying that the cuts did not go far enough.
“I look forward to signing this bill into law as soon as possible and addressing the American people directly tomorrow,” Biden added.
The bill, a compromise between Biden and Speaker McCarthy, has left neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased. The negotiations went on for weeks.
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Schumer praised Democrats’ role in the debt ceiling agreement. “Tonight’s vote is a good outcome because Democrats did a very good job taking the worst parts of the Republican plan off the table,” he told reporters.
“May be a little tired, but we did it. So we’re very, very happy. Default was the giant sword hanging over America’s head, but because of the good work of President Biden, as well as Democrats, in the House and Democrats in the Senate, we are not defaulting,” the New York senator said.
