The Senate is poised to vote on a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling, with party leaders looking to put an end for now to the partisan crisis that has put the nation at risk of its first-ever default. Hitt he jump to read the rest of the story.
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The vote, expected at about noon, follows the bill’s passage in the House a day earlier despite grumbling from both liberals and conservatives. While Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said a day earlier he wasn’t ready to “declare victory,” leadership aides estimate that at least 70 senators will vote for the package — giving it well above the 60 votes needed for passage.
Tuesday’s Senate vote, which would send the bill to President Obama’s desk, will occur just hours before the Treasury’s deadline for action expires. Obama is to deliver a statement on the bill Tuesday afternoon.
Several senators, though, continued to voice concerns with the bill in the run-up to the vote.
Tea Party-aligned Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reiterated that he will vote against the bill.
He said the new debt the country is assuming in order to pay existing obligations will take “decades to pay off,” and complained that the package will not require a balanced-budget amendment.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, also said he would vote against the bill.
The House passed the deal 269-161 in an 11th-hour vote Monday, which was also notable for marking Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ return to Capitol Hill. The Arizona representative hadn’t been in the House since January when she was critically injured in a shooting rampage in Tucson. Giffords was met by loud applause on the House floor and voted yes.
“I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy,” Giffords said in a statement.
Congress has until the end of the day Tuesday to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in order for the Treasury to be able to continue paying all its bills. Doing nothing would risk defaulting on the nation’s debt for the first time.
House Speaker John Boehner had to rely on a blend of Republicans and Democrats to push the bill through his chamber, with some conservatives unhappy about key provisions in the compromise.
House Democrats didn’t want to carry Republicans’ water, though. While 95 Democrats voted for the bill, an equal number voted against. A total of 174 Republicans supported the bill, while 66 voted against it.
Liberal Democrats were unhappy in part because the first phase of the plan relies solely on spending cuts — $900 billion worth of them.
The second phase of the plan relies on a special committee to come up with roughly $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction. Both sides are wary about what that process could produce, in terms of entitlement reform and tax reform.
And conservatives are particularly agitated about a provision that would enact sweeping defense cuts if the committee’s recommendations are not approved by the end of the year. Plus some are peeved that, while the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, it would not require its approval in order for the debt ceiling to be increased.
Still, a number of big-name lawmakers were getting in line behind the bill.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said he is “very concerned” about the defense spending provision, nevertheless said he will “strongly support” this package.
