The US Congress authorized extending the federal government's debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, to over $31.4 trillion, on Tuesday, sending the bill to President Joe Biden for signature to avoid a historic default.
The bill's passage comes after a months-long impasse between Democrats and Republicans, with the latter attempting to compel Biden's party to increase the debt ceiling on its own from its current level of $28.9 trillion, providing material for attack commercials during the 2022 congressional elections.
Last week's agreement between Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set the groundwork for Tuesday's vote, circumventing usual Senate procedures that need 60 of the chamber's 100 members to agree to move most legislation. The law was passed by the Senate on a partisan 50-49 vote earlier on Tuesday.
The measure was adopted by a vote of 221-209 in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, has encouraged Congress to raise the debt ceiling before Wednesday.
Under the extraordinary compromise reached by Schumer and McConnell and ratified by both houses last week, legislation extending the debt ceiling may be enacted by a simple majority in the Senate this time, allowing Democrats to pass it on their own.
Republican Representative Jodey Arrington expressed disappointment in McConnell's agreement to the compromise before the House Rules Committee. The country's debt was at its greatest level since WWII, yet "we ain't in a war," according to Arrington.
The committee’s chairman, Democrat Jim McGovern, responded, “I don’t normally have many nice things to say about Mitch McConnell, but I do think he understands that … not to allow this to go forward, it would be ruinous to our economy.”
The committee then voted 9-4 to move the legislation to the House floor.
The increase is required in part to cover debt acquired under Republican Donald Trump's administration, when the debt increased by $7.85 trillion, owing in part to significant tax cuts and expenditures to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.
Republicans, who control half of the Senate's 100 members and oppose raising the debt ceiling, have attempted to tie the vote to Biden's $1.75 trillion "Build Back Better" package to strengthen the social safety net and combat climate change.
In a speech before the vote, McConnell claimed, "Every Senate Democrat will vote along party lines to increase our nation's debt ceiling by trillions of dollars. This big debt rise will only be the beginning if they ram through another irresponsible taxing and spending spree."
Much of Congress' time this month was taken up with the debt limit struggle and another self-created crisis, enacting a bill to keep the government funded through February, and members of both chambers are already looking forward to the extended Christmas recesses.
It's uncertain if Schumer's other aim, approving Vice President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion packages to strengthen the social safety net and combat climate change by Christmas, will be met. Deep divisions within the party about the package's size and breadth have stymied the endeavor.
