Senate succeeds in pushing through bill to avoid default in a disputed vote

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised at the beginning of the session that members of Congress would not leave "until we send the bill avoiding default to President Biden's desk," and he kept his word. After a marathon session, full of amendments and corrections, and thanks to votes from 44 Democrats, 17 Republicans and independents Kyrsten Sinema and Angus King, the Fiscal Responsibility Act was passed at 10:37 p.m. EST.

Approved on the horn

"Time is a luxury the Senate does not have if we want to prevent default," Schumer said. The deal was approved in the extra time given by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, since the default was initially scheduled for June 1. The deadline, however, was set for June 5.

As happened in the House, the vote of Democratic legislators was fundamental to move the agreement between the speaker and the president forward. The tension between the leaders of both parties in the Senate was evident following the announcement by several congressmen from both sides that they would vote "no" on the bill, and by amendments that put key votes in jeopardy. Especially since 60 "yes" votes were required for the bill to reach the oval office.

Eleven amendments prior to approval

Eleven amendments had to be voted on (10 from Republicans and one from the Democrats) before a proposal could be reached that would achieve sufficient support. GOP proposals included increasing defense spending or increasing cuts, proposed by Rand Paul. The only Democratic request came from Tim Kaine, which was to withdraw Joe Manchin's amendment guaranteeing the completion of the Mountain Valley pipeline.

Despite majority rejection from his peers, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed the result, since it served "to avoid default and begin to curb Washington Democrats' addiction to reckless spending." These words only captured the sentiments of 17 of the Republican senators, since the remaining 31 voted "no," arguing that it was a bad deal for Americans.

Republican senators' frustration

Ted Cruz expressed his disappointment with the contents of the deal, noting that he was "frustrated" because "this agreement adds a lot to the debt in exchange for relatively few spending cuts. I simply cannot support a debt limit deal that continues the same reckless spending that has produced record inflation [and] slowed our economic recovery."

Biden: avoiding default is "a big win"

Immediately after the vote, Biden issued a statement celebrating the approval of the agreement and stressing that he will proceed to sign it as quickly as possible, after which he will address the nation. In a tweet, the president stressed that "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."