Pedestrians walk past the National Debt Clock in New York, the US, on June 1, 2023. After months of partisan arm-wrestling, the Congress approved the bill to raise America's debt ceiling after the Senate's passage late Thursday, the 103rd time since 1945, allowing the government to avert a debt default by borrowing more. Image: Xinhua/Shutterstock
By: FEDweek StaffUPDATED: President Biden has signed a bill to lift the federal debt ceiling until 2025 while also making numerous budgetary and policy changes.
An agreement last week between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California ended up drawing a majority of votes from both parties in the House, although it passed with mainly Democratic support in the Senate, with 30 Republicans opposed and only 17 in favor.
The timing of action in the Senate had been uncertain due to several amendments being offered, which if accepted would have required sending the bill back to the House. That would have raised the risk of an unprecedented default on the national debt on Monday (June 5). However, all the Senate amendments—including one to impose deeper cuts in agency spending—were defeated.
The measure would suspend the debt limit until January 1, 2025—past the next elections—with the Treasury then able to again buy several months of time by using the same types of financial maneuvers it invoked earlier this year.
Although the measure lifts the risk of default until then, there is much in the measure that members of both parties—especially those toward the outer edges of each in their views—dislike. In sum, the Republicans against the bill oppose it for not going far enough in restricting spending and making policy changes, while the Democrats oppose it for doing too much. (See Debt Ceiling Measure Would Restrict Agency Funding for 2024-2025, and Possibly Beyond.)
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