Senate votes to discuss debt limit deal as default looms

The Senate on Thursday recommended a resolution to discuss the debt limit deal forged by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with some senators threatening to delay the measure as a default deadline nears.

Lawmakers from both parties in the House voted Wednesday evening to approve the bill 314 - 117. The bill would require restraints on spending through the 2024 election and prevent a destabilizing US default.

The Senate will stay in session until we send a bill avoiding default to President Biden's desk, Schumer said. Any amendment to this bill that forces us to send us to send it back to the House would be unacceptable, it would almost guarantee default. Schumer formally began the process by putting the bill on the Senate calendar to blunt the impact of any delaying tactics by opponents. The Treasury says it will begin to run out of cash after June 5 to pay the nation's bills.

Investors have considered the potential for a US default as resolved and are focusing their attention on other uncertainties, such as another possible Federal Reserve interest-rate increase and signs of a weakening Chinese economy. On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4 percent, compared to the previous week, when the Treasury yields were generally lower.

Approval by the Senate is typically certain, and the only question is timing. On Thursday, Senate Republican John Thune told reporters that he was trying to get the number of amendments down to a manageable level. I would say it s trending more towards tomorrow for a vote, Mr. Thune said.

Under Senate rules, any member can force a delay in final passage. The leaders were negotiating with the bill opponents to avoid it by agreeing to votes on amendments that were unlikely to pass.

One staunch opponent, Republican Mike Lee of Utah, criticized the bill in an interview on Fox Thursday and questioned the Treasury's estimate of a June 5 default deadline, but he didn 't say he would seek to slow the debate.

He said that he wants to make one thing very, very clear: We are not going to default, and that he huddled on the House floor with conservative opponents of the bill during the vote in that chamber late Wednesday.

Fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Thursday vowed to use procedural delays to tie the bill up until Tuesday if he isn t guaranteed that funds would continue flowing to Ukraine.

Under the deal, defense spending would grow by 3.3% next year. Although Ukraine's military expenditures have typically been handling supplemental spending, the funds have typically been handled by supplemental spending which would not be included in the caps.

As Republicans retaliate against some hawkish Republicans, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said more Pentagon dollars could come later on and said national security funding remains an urgent priority.

It will pass, he said. The votes are there as demonstrator in the House, it s a parallel situation in the Senate, Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who intends to vote against the measure, said in a statement on Thursday.

With assistance from Molly Smith, Tyler Kendall and Steven T. Dennis.

Most Republicans have big spending cuts that economists say will have little impact on the economy.