He United States Senate It will remain in session until it passes a bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion, the Democratic majority leader said Thursday. Chuck Schumerwhile some legislators pressured him to allow voting on amendments to the text.
The upper house there are only four days left to pass the billwhich suspends the debt limit until January 1, 2025, and send it to the president Joe Biden for its enactment, which will prevent a catastrophic default.
“We will continue to meet until the job is finished”Schumer said in a speech on the full Senate floor.
Schumer and his Republican counterpart, the Senate Minority Leader, mitch mcconnellthey promised to do everything possible to speed up the bill negotiated by Biden and the head of the House of Representatives, the Republican kevin mccarthy.
The measure suspends the debt limit, essentially removing it temporarily, in exchange for a cap on spending.
It remained to be seen whether any members of their respective houses, particularly hardline Republicans – angry that the bill does not include tougher spending cuts – would use the Senate’s complex rules to try to delay your approval.
Some senators were pressuring Schumer to allow some votes on amendments to the billin exchange for allowing the overall package to be approved more quickly.
This is a common maneuver in the Senate but one that is not without risk, since if any of the amendments were successful, the bill would have to return to the lower house.
voting against the clock
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved the bill last Wednesday night in a vote of 314 in favor and 117 against. McCarthy lost the support of dozens of his fellow Republicans.
“Time is a luxury that the Senate does not have”Schumer said Thursday, adding that “any last-minute delay or postponement would be an unnecessary and even dangerous risk”.
Biden’s Democrats control the Senate by a narrow 51-49 margin. House rules require 60 votes to advance most bills, which means at least nine Republican votes are needed to pass most billsincluding the agreement on the debt ceiling.
Typically, on major and contentious bills like this, the two Senate leaders find a way to allow just a couple of rogue senators from each party to submit amendments via fast-track procedures, knowing they won’t have the votes for their bill. approval.
But there is little time for these procedures since the Treasury Department warned that he will not be able to pay all his bills on June 5 if Congress does not act.
Republicans are considering several amendments only on defense related issuesmost of which would have a 50-vote threshold, said Sen. John Thunethe second-ranking Republican in the House.
This would be 50 votes instead of the usual 60, though it could increase the chances that the Senate will modify the House-passed bill, requiring it to return to the House for another vote before being sent to the Senate desk. Biden.
Source: Ambito
