The U.S. Senate passed the debt ceiling agreement—the Fiscal Responsibility Act—with a vote of 63-36, preventing the nation’s first-ever default. The bill will now head to President Joe Biden’s desk for signing.
The agreement, crafted by Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and their teams of negotiators, suspends the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, and imposes caps on defense and non-defense discretionary spending enforced by sequestration.
At the beginning of the session, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned against delaying the bill with amendments, saying on the Senate floor that this was not an option….