WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate took a crucial step forward Thursday in assuring the country can continue meeting its financial obligations when the chamber approved a debt ceiling package.
Much like their counterparts in the House of Representatives, Republican and Democratic senators passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act in a 63-36 bipartisan vote. President Joe Biden is set to sign the legislation before Monday when the Treasury Department says it will run out of resources for making payments.
Arkansas’ Republican senators split on the measure; Sen. John Boozman of Rogers supported passage as Sen. Tom Cotton of Little Rock opposed the legislation.
“Tonight’s outcome is very welcome news for our economy and for American families,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the vote.
The legislation is a compromise between the Biden administration and House Republicans. Democrats on Capitol Hill had pushed for a clean debt ceiling increase with no attached provisions. Republicans, however, wanted limits on federal spending, with House Republicans passing their own proposal that included such language in late April.
Biden and House Republican leaders reached a compromise Saturday with legislative text released Sunday.
The measure suspends the debt limit until January 2025, allowing the Treasury Department to cover existing obligations for the next 18 months. As part of the compromise, the bill sets discretionary spending caps for the next two fiscal years and rescinds unused coronavirus response dollars and some IRS enforcement funding.
House Republicans additionally secured language concerning energy projects to expedite the permitting process, as well as new work requirements for adults receiving food assistance.
Cotton, in a Thursday afternoon speech on the Senate floor, commended House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for several provisions in the legislative package, noting the legislation’s permitting language and reclamation of some federal dollars.
Yet Cotton’s vote stemmed from language affecting defense spending. Discretionary defense funding for fiscal year 2024 would be capped at $886 billion followed by a 1% increase the next year. Discretionary spending would fall by 1% if Congress fails to pass all 12 appropriations bills before next January.
“Unfortunately, this bill poses a mortal risk to our national security by cutting our defense budget, which I cannot support as grave dangers gather on the horizon,” the senator said.
While defense funding would increase, Cotton and other defense hawks argue it would not keep up with inflation.
“If you get a 3% raise but prices go up by 6%, even a small child can tell you that your money won’t go as far and your family will have to tighten its belt,” Cotton said.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., cited the language on defense spending as a concern with the package before the House’s vote Wednesday evening.
“When we’re looking at the evolving threat the way I look at it and you have that scenario going on with DOD [Department of Defense], then I think that is problematic,” the Rogers legislator told the Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday.
Womack did support the legislation during the House’s vote Wednesday evening. Arkansas’ other House members — Rick Crawford of Jonesboro, French Hill of Little Rock and Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs — also voted for the package.
“To be able to get savings, to move in that direction, I think, is very important,” Womack said. “In exchange for paying our nation’s bills, I think it makes voting for this measure much more palatable than the way it began.”
Cotton proposed an amendment to use the debt ceiling legislation as the baseline for cuts instead of December’s omnibus appropriations measure as set in the legislative package.
“The defense budget should rise and fall with the dangers confronting our nation, and I do not believe those dangers are receding,” Cotton said Thursday afternoon. “Who here believes the world is safer or more stable than it was a year ago or two years ago? On the contrary, America is in greater danger than at any time in my life.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. — the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee — lambasted Cotton’s amendment, saying the senator’s proposal would put additional pressure on nondefense programs if Congress fails to approve appropriations measures.
“That is exactly why I’m committed to making sure we write the strongest 12 funding bills possible and get them passed in a timely way,” she said Thursday evening. “This amendment would set us back even further and target the programs that are a lifeline for working people in this country.”
The Senate rejected the amendment 48-51, short of the 60-vote threshold necessary for approval; Boozman and Cotton voted for the change. Senators additionally objected to passing 10 other amendments introduced by colleagues.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined Cotton on the floor to rail against the legislation’s defense spending language, threatening to hold the Senate until Tuesday if lawmakers didn’t change related language in the legislative package. Senate leaders committed to a supplemental measure concerning defense threats and the United States’ ongoing support of Ukraine.
“There’s some good things in this bill, but it was wrong to give a defense number inconsistent with the threats we face,” the South Carolinian said. “I do believe that we’re on track to right some of those wrongs.”
Unlike some of his colleagues, Boozman did not speak publicly on the debt ceiling package leading up to Thursday’s voting period.
“While not perfect, this agreement represents important progress in putting our country on a sustainable fiscal path while honoring our financial obligations and supporting seniors and veterans,” the Rogers senator said in a statement following the vote.
“By slashing funding for new IRS agents, clawing back unspent COVID funds and implementing commonsense work reforms for federal programs, we are making Washington rethink its priorities and start to get federal spending under control. I know there is more work to be done, and I will continue advocating for more responsible budgets along with my colleagues, but this is a good start.”
Biden celebrated the Senate vote, thanking legislators for their vote to “protect the hard-earned economic progress we have made and prevent a first-ever default by the United States.”
“No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” the president said.
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