Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have voted in favor of legislation to raise America’s debt limit, sending the bill to the Senate just days before a June 5 default deadline.
The “Fiscal Responsibility Act” passed in the lower chamber of Congress by a vote of 314-117, with bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans.
The legislation’s passage comes after several weeks of negotiations between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
That debt ceiling bill now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where leaders on both sides want to pass it within 48 hours.
President Biden and White House officials had a measured response to the bill’s passage, stating that “Neither side got everything it wanted.”
Some Republican and Democrat lawmakers were unhappy with the legislation though, saying it was too much of a compromise.
A total of 71 Republicans voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and it required strong support from Democrats to pass the crucial vote in the House of Representatives.
There was a lot at stake with the vote as failure to raise the U.S. debt limit and a default by the American government would upset financial markets, cause job losses, and jeopardize vital government benefits such as Social Security.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act runs until 2025, avoiding any further standoffs over the debt ceiling until after the next presidential election.
