By Editor-June 2nd, 2023.
Avoiding a U.S. default that could have led to a collapse of the US dollar, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt-ceiling bill by working after hours to put the final touches to a two-party deal for President Joe Biden’s to sign into law before the fast-approaching deadline.
The compromise package negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaves neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased with the outcome. But, reports AP News, the result, after weeks of hard-fought budget negotiations, shelves the volatile debt ceiling issue that risked destroying the global economy until 2025 after the next presidential election.
Biden applauded the House passage of the legislation, calling on the Senate to quickly take up the legislation to avoid a default. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, had warned that the federal government will be unable to pay its bills starting 5 June unless it was allowed to borrow more, meaning that federal workers and retirees could have been unpaid.
However, President Biden may not be entirely happy as his much-vaunted plan to relieve billions of dollars of student debt had to be ditched to get the bill through Congress.
Approval in the Senate on a bipartisan vote, 63-36, somewhat reflected the House vote numbers the day before, relying on moderates in both parties to squeeze the package through the Senate — though Democrats led the vote count in both chambers.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of voting that the bill’s passage means “America can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Afterward he said, “We’ve saved the country from the scourge of default.”
