Hagerty attends son's graduation, misses debt vote; Blackburn votes no

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee, was the only member of the U.S. Senate to miss a vote Thursday evening on a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid default on federal debt, while U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn opposed the deal.

“Senator Hagerty flew home Thursday to attend his son’s high school graduation ceremony,” Hagerty spokesperson Audrey Traynor told The Tennessean in a statement. “Senator Hagerty regrets to miss any vote, but he made a commitment to his son and his family to be with them on this important day.”

The Senate passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in a vote of 63 to 36 on Thursday, following approval from the U.S. House of Representatives. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign, in an effort to avoid default – which was projected to occur on Monday.

Blackburn, R-Tennessee, congratulated Speaker Kevin McCarthy for “fighting back against Biden’s blank check agenda,” but said the compromise bill did not go far enough to avoid “the insurmountable debt we are on track to leave” future generations.

“No one wants the government to default on our debt, however, I do not believe that the final deal will put enough restraints on Biden’s wasteful spending and government overreach,” Blackburn said in a statement. “This deal also does nothing to stop 87,000 IRS agents from harassing hardworking Americans. Furthermore, we should invest in a strong military at a rate that ensures we are fully equipped to take on the Chinese Communist Party.”

Reach Vivian Jones at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hagerty attends son's graduation, misses debt vote; Blackburn votes no