The House Monday passed historic bipartisan legislation that will cut up to $2.4 trillion in federal spending while raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. The Senate is expected to pass the bill as early as Tuesday morning, in time for President Obama to sign it by the Aug. 2 deadline after which the United States could have defaulted on its loans, potentially throwing global financial markets into chaos.
Recommended Stories
The measure, which passed the House 269-161, will raise the debt ceiling — the amount the government can borrow — by over $2 trillion.
“Tonight the House prevented default and boosted economic certainty by ensuring America pays its bills while we start getting our fiscal house in order,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said after the vote.
Republicans, especially the Tea Party-backed Republican freshmen, complained that the bill cut too little and did not require a vote on a balanced budget amendment they sought. But most of the opposition came from Democrats, who angrily confronted Vice President Biden in a closed-door meeting about a package they decried for including steep cuts but no tax increases.
“It was a tough audience,” Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., told The Washington Examiner. “They were saying we thought after all this time we thought we would have a better deal and could point to more accomplishments.”
But House Democrats didn’t want to be blamed for blocking a deal, particularly since Obama and other administration officials warned that failing to raise the debt limit would further undermine an already shaky economy.
Democrats registered their votes on the House floor en masse upon the arrival of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who walked into the chamber for the first time since nearly dying after being shot in the head in January.
Lawmakers in the packed chamber broke into a thunderous standing ovation when Giffords walked in. It took only seconds for dozens of Democrats, including Giffords, to push the bill to passage.
“Gabrielle has returned to Washington to support a bipartisan bill to prevent economic crisis,” her office announced on Twitter.
The legislation would cut hundreds of billions in spending over 10 years. A special bipartisan committee will be appointed to identify $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in additional savings, possibly by reforming entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid or raising taxes.
The plan includes powerful “triggers” that, if the bipartisan panel fails to agree on cuts, would slash $1.2 trillion, evenly divided between defense and nondefense spending.
The debt ceiling debate has consumed Congress for weeks, with economists warning that failure to raise the borrowing limit would lead to drastic cuts in spending — including Social Security checks and veterans’ benefits — because there would no longer be enough tax revenue to cover the nation’s bills.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on the House floor moments before the vote that she understood why so many in her party opposed the bill, admitting she was unsure whether to support it herself.
“Please think of what could happen if we defaulted,” Pelosi said in a floor speech moments before the vote. “Please, please, please come down in favor of preventing the collateral damage from reaching our seniors and veterans.”
