What’s next after the House approves the debt ceiling agreement?

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan legislation to suspend the nation’s debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, despite vocal opposition on both sides of the aisle.

“This is a crucial first step for putting America back on track.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, a fiscal package put together by President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and their teams of negotiators, overwhelmingly cleared the lower chamber with a 314-117 vote.

More Democrats Voted for the Bill than Republicans

• 165 Democrats voted for the bill
• 149 Republicans voted for the bill
• 71 members from the GOP caucus opposed the package
• 46 members from the Democrats opposed the package

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the largest deficit-reduction bill in at least a decade and will fundamentally change the spending trajectory in Washington.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) echoed McCarthy’s sentiment, telling reporters at a news conference after the vote that this is just the beginning of restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington after the vote.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the House Financial Services Committee Chairman, called it “the most conservative spending package during my time in Congress.”

Headed to the Senate

The package now heads to the Senate ahead of a June 5 deadline. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to initiate the debt ceiling bill process on June 1. However, it could still take several days to travel through the Senate, depending on the senators and their positions on the matter.

“There’s been a very good vote in the House. I hope we can move the bill quickly here in the Senate and bring it to the president’s desk as soon as possible.”

Biden urged the upper chamber “to pass it as quickly as possible” to prevent a default and keep the nation’s economic recovery intact.

Senators Express Disappointment

• Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called it a “fake response to burdensome debt” and confirmed that he “will emphatically vote ‘No.'”
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced on Twitter that he could not vote for the bill, citing adjustments to federal aid programs and the fast-tracking of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline.

“The fact of the matter is that this bill is totally unnecessary,” Sanders wrote. “The president has the authority and the ability to eliminate the debt ceiling today by invoking the 14th Amendment.”