Biden Gives Democrats a Green Light to Weaken the Filibuster for Debt Ceiling Votes
After previously opposing such a move, President Joe Biden on Tuesday said it is a “real possibility” that Democrats will change Senate rules to exempt debt ceiling votes from the 60-vote legislative filibuster—a reversal that comes as the U.S. is careening toward a default on its financial obligations.
“Do it, Democrats,” said one progressive organizer.
Republicans Begrudgingly Vote For Debt Limit Deal McConnell Made With Democrats
Senate Republicans voted Thursday with Democrats to temporarily extend the debt limit for just two months Thursday, a deal Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) struck with Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer.
After months of refusing to help increase the debt ceiling, McConnell offered a short-term solution this week to increase the debt limit enough for the government to continue paying its bills into December. Eleven Republicans voted with Democrats to allow the deal to pass the Senate.
The vote was uncertain until the very last minute, as many Senate Republicans railed against their own leader for negotiating with Democrats and breaking the party line: that Democrats would have to increase the debt limit on their own.
US Senate averts financial crisis with debt deal
Senators voted 50-48 in favour of raising the borrowing limit.
The Senate has, for now, averted a debt crisis that threatened to plunge the US economy into crisis after Democrats and Republicans approved a deal to increase the government’s borrowing limit.
Senators voted 50-48 in favour of raising the limit by $480bn, enough to stop the government from defaulting until 3 December. Although the temporary fix has prevented disaster just days before the 18 October deadline, it is unable to resolve larger disputes between the two parties.
Why the Senate blinked and moved back from the brink of a federal default crisis
On Wednesday morning, the Senate appeared to be headed down one unavoidable collision course with potentially calamitous consequences: Republicans refused to allow a vote raising the federal debt ceiling to pay the government’s bills unless Democrats capitulated to their procedural demands. Democrats would not do so, while no obvious strategy to avoid an unprecedented federal default was anywhere in sight.
But hours later, as senators were set to take a key procedural vote that would have heightened the confrontation, an off-ramp appeared: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Republicans would allow Democrats to advance a roughly two-month debt hike.
Senate Democrats chose to accept the deal, crowing that it represented a Republican capitulation: “McConnell caved,” announced Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Wednesday as she left a private meeting.
“Is anybody excited about this?” Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) mused to reporters, hours before Senate Republicans huddled privately to work out who among them would have to cast a difficult procedural vote that would allow Democrats to pass the two-month debt patch.
Yet even some of those opposed made clear that they saw the logic in McConnell’s move. “I think there are plenty of respectable reasons to be a yes,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), going so far as to call the move “elegant” only hours before voting against advancing the deal.
Manchin/Sinema Plan to Gut Biden Agenda = 2M Fewer Jobs Per Year
“Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema’s efforts to scale back Build Back Better can only leave working families worse off.”
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposal to lop $2 trillion off his own party’s social spending and climate agenda would support nearly two million fewer jobs per year than the full $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan backed by President Joe Biden, progressive lawmakers, and a majority of the U.S. public.
ON WITH THE SHOW / The Rolling Stones
from
THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST
