Senate OKs debt ceiling to avoid an econ crisis

The Senate approved legislation Tuesday evening to lift the nation’s debt limit by $2.5 trillion under a deal struck between party leaders, defusing the possibility of a catastrophic national default until after next year’s midterm elections while saddling majority Democrats with a tough vote.

The 50-to-49 party line vote came just one day shy of a deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who warned last month that she was running out of maneuvering room to avoid the nation’s first-ever default.

The measure now moves to the House, where a vote could come as early as Tuesday night, sending it to President Biden’s desk.

“This is about paying debt accumulated by both parties, so I’m pleased Republicans and Democrats came together,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said of the agreement, which created a workaround that allowed Democrats to avoid a Republican filibuster.

The deal, which means discussion of the debt ceiling will be put off until after the midterm elections, puts a final punctuation mark to a partisan dispute that threatened to ripple through world markets.

As recently as October, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not “be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement.”

In striking a deal, McConnell backtracked on his word. But he also got much of what he wanted: Democrats taking a politically difficult vote without Republican support, while increasing the limit by a staggering dollar figure that is sure to appear in future attack ads.

“If they jam through another taxing and spending spree this massive debt increase will just be the beginning,” the Kentucky Republican said Tuesday.

The decision, however, has proven unpopular with some Republicans, particularly Donald Trump.

The former president has railed against the deal repeatedly, calling McConnell a “Broken Old Crow” who “didn’t have the guts to play the Debt Ceiling card, which would have given the Republicans a complete victory on virtually everything.”