Already passed the House, it had to be finally approved by June 5: Joe Biden’s signature now missing to become law
On Thursday and Friday night, the US Senate approved an agreement to increase the so-called “debt ceiling” for a period of two years, that is, the amount of money that the state can borrow from the markets to finance its activities. The positive vote came a day after the House voted and concluded the agreement process in Congress. Now President Joe Biden must sign the ruling into law.
Approval in the Senate was taken for granted by analysts, but doubts remain about the timing of the vote: Indeed, the agreement had to be approved by June 5, the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen chose as a guideline before the U.S. She can no longer pay her debts by default. In this scenario, the state will no longer be able to pay salaries and carry out a large part of its public expenditures, with dire consequences also for financial markets.
In a Thursday night session in the Senate, the deal is past Thanks to the positive vote of 44 Democratic senators, 17 Republicans, and two independents. To pass, it had to be approved by at least 60 votes out of 100 in the Senate, which Democrats narrowly control. Initially, eleven text amendments were submitted, but they were all rejected. If even one amendment had received a favorable vote, the agreement would have had to go back to the House, lowering the chances of approval by June 5.
The vote took place thanks to the rare collaboration between Democrats and Republicans, who are so divided on practically all of the country’s major issues and choices. The strong division was the condition for the negotiations, with Joe Biden’s government rejecting for months a large part of the negotiations, arguing that the debt ceiling must be increased without conditions. Biden had finally negotiated with the Republican House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, to enter into an agreement at the end of May.
The hardest part was getting the deal through the House, where Republicans have a majority of nine votes, and many of the more extreme segments of the party. The deal finally passed midweek by 314 votes: 165 from Democrats and 149 from Republicans.
With Biden’s signature scheduled today, the agreement will become enforceable law to avoid US default.
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