Senate Democrats Raise Debt Limit by $2.5 Trillion, Avoid Delay of Elections Reform, Expansive Bill To Address Climate, Social Safety Net

The Senate narrowly dodged financial disaster by adopting legislation to expand the federal borrowing ceiling by $2.5 trillion on Tuesday. All Democrats voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling. There were no Republicans among them.

The bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives, where it is likely to pass. Once approved by President Joe Biden, the legislative measure will have avoided a US default, which could have delayed Social Security and veterans' payments, raised interest rates on mortgages and loans, and damaged the world economy.

Senate Democrats approve an increasing debt ceiling

The Treasury Department said on Wednesday that the United States would be unable to pay its debts. The move by Congress was the final stage in a months-long process to raise the federal borrowing limit, ABC News reported.

The Republican and Democratic leadership clashed over the spending ceiling in October. Though both parties agreed that extending the debt ceiling was necessary, Republicans said that Democrats should do so on their own, alleging that they needed to do so to offset the expense of Biden's yet-to-be-passed $1.75 trillion social spending program.

Democrats, who helped raise the debt ceiling many times throughout Trump's presidency, insisted on a bipartisan effort since the debt ceiling needed to be lifted to cover previous expenditures.

As they promote President Biden's almost $2 trillion Build Back Better Act, Republicans have repeatedly urged that Democrats utilize the legislative method of reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling on their own. The White House and Democrats have emphasized that lifting the debt ceiling is a nonpartisan issue, as per NY Post.

Former President Donald Trump chastised McConnell for the compromise, calling him a "Broken Old Crow" who "didn't have the courage to play the Debt Ceiling card, which would have given the Republicans a perfect win on practically everything" in a Sunday statement.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) expressed his reservations as well, saying that the rule change may be used to "launder" possibly unfavorable votes by circumventing the Senate's usual procedures.

The approach, Lee said, was designed to make last week's vote "appear to be anything other than helping Democrats increase the debt ceiling," which Republican leadership "committed, in writing no less," he added.

Senate Democrats urge to prevent the delay of two major goals

Per POLITICO, Senate Democrats are frantically attempting to prevent having their two major goals, elections reform and a sweeping plan to combat climate change and the social safety net, delayed by the end of the year. Joe Manchin is at the center of it all.

Democratic senators heatedly argued how to tackle their two greatest outstanding responsibilities during Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's leadership meeting on Monday evening. Some Democrats think that both concerns should be postponed until next year, while others contend that the party's power over Manchin will not increase with time and that action should be taken immediately.

In Tuesday's interviews, the party appeared to be grappling with securing its main goals. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said he spent the weekend talking with Manchin and other Democrats about priority ballot access legislation, which he described as a "moral concern" that his party must address.

Democrats focused their Tuesday party meeting on their elections bill and the expected rule changes needed for it to succeed, demonstrating the balancing act going on in the caucus, with President Joe Biden's economic plan on the line.

These internal squabbles have heightened the pressure on Democrats to choose one of the party's two major remaining goals to prioritize. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Manchin's important position in each piece of legislation "makes them linked."