The bipartisan bill to suspend the nation’s debt limit has passed the Senate

The Senate voted 63-36 Thursday to pass a bipartisan bill to suspend the debt ceiling, as negotiated by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was one of the 31 Republicans to vote no on the bill.

“The Senate has passed a farce,” he said on Twitter after the vote.

Prior to the vote, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney told reporters that the bill — which he planned to vote for — doesn’t go far enough to reduce the nation’s debt, but includes some important reforms.

“And are there things I wish were different in it? Yes,” Romney said. “Are there flaws? Absolutely. Is there opportunity to improve it down the road? Yeah, of course. But (Speaker McCarthy) accomplished what I think most people thought was a real long shot, and he deserves the credit that’s due, and so I think the mood among most of my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, is positive. We dodged a bullet here.”

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Wednesday. All four of Utah’s congressmen voted for the bill.

Early Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said his colleagues had reached a deal.

“America can breathe a sigh of relief because, in this process, we are avoiding default from the start,” said Schumer, per The Hill. “Avoiding default has been our North Star.”

Related

• ‘He got it done’: Romney praises McCarthy ahead of Senate debt ceiling vote

• Here’s how Utah’s 4 congressmen voted on the debt ceiling bill

He also said the deal will not limit the Senate from dispersing emergency supplemental funding, which can be used to deter foreign adversaries, as well as approve emergency disaster relief support when necessary.

The latest Deseret News/Hinckley poll indicates that 42% of Utahns support raising the debt ceiling, but with spending cuts to the U.S. budget.

The survey, conducted between May 22 to June 1, found that 23% of voters said the debt ceiling should be raised without any conditions. Meanwhile, 31% said the debt should not be raised and 4% said they didn’t know. The poll has a +/-3.46% margin of error.

Proposed amendments to bill fall short

A total of 11 amendments were considered by the Senate — 10 of which were proposed by the GOP. None of them passed.

Lee introduced an amendment to strike Section 265 of the bill, which a press release from Lee’s office said “empowers the Biden Administration’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Shalanda Young, to unilaterally waive a provision referred to as ‘administrative PAYGO.’”

“This provision requires administrative agencies to offset the expense of any regulatory discretionary administrative action,” the press release said. “Removing this check undermines the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s claim to regulatory reforms.”

The Senate rejected the amendment in a 51-48 vote.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., offered an amendment that sought to impose a 5% cut on all budget spending, while Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., presented another that sought to impose additional duties on articles imported from China until trade between U.S. and China balances.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., proposed an amendment to remove the provision dealing with the Mountain Valley pipeline, which he earlier today called a “highly controversial project” that directly impacts local landowners in two states — West Virginia and Virginia.

“No everyday person gets this deal, no criminal defendant gets this deal, no small business gets this deal,” he said on the Senate floor. “And we shouldn’t give it to some company just because they’re powerful and they have influence in Congress.”

The project is of great importance to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who fiercely argued for the provision. He urged lawmakers to vote no and finish the project.