House approves final vote on debt ceiling deal

After several minutes of suspense, Democrats helped Kevin McCarthy clear the 218-vote threshold. Lawmakers are expected to give final approval to the bill on Wednesday night.

The House of Representatives approved moving the debt ceiling deal to a final vote, which will take place on Wednesday night. With 241 votes in favor and 187 against, the legislators agreed to advance the bill. Kevin McCarthy needed help from Democrats, as many lawmakers from his own party opposed it.

There were 189 Republicans and 52 Democrats who voted in favor of moving to a final vote. Some 29 Republicans and 158 Democrats voted against it. For a few minutes, it seemed that the "no" votes had the advantage, something that was maintained until the last moment, when the balance finally tipped in favor of moving forward with the bill.

Now with a little more peace of mind, it is expected that the House will pass the legislation without much drama and pass the decision on to the Senate, where there is already some hostility. So far, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Tim Scott and others have come out against it, as did Bernie Sanders.

"The best thing that could be said about the current deal on the debt ceiling is that it could have been much worse. ... Having said that, I cannot vote for this bill," the progressive senator wrote on his Twitter account.

However, Mitch McConnell was confident about the chances of passing the legislation in the Senate. "I can tell you what I hope happens is that those who have amendments, if given votes, will yield back time so that we can finish this Thursday or Friday and sooth the country and sooth the markets," he told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Republicans who voted against advancing to a final vote

Roy
Gaetz
Biggs
Crane
Bishop
Good (Va.)
Higgins (La.)
Rosendale
Moon
Boebert
Spartz
Mary Miller
Scott Perry
Brecheen
Keith Self
Harshbarger
Gosar
Burchett
Posey
Ken Buck
Cloud
Burlinson
Clyde
Cline
Griffith
Barry Moore
Norman
Tiffany
Harris