The US Senate was yesterday set to take up a bill to lift the government’s US$31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with just four days left to pass the measure and send it to US President Joe Biden to sign, averting a catastrophic default.
The top Democrat and Republican in the chamber vowed to do all they could to speed along the bill negotiated by Biden and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which would suspend the debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025, in exchange for a cap on spending.
It remained to be seen whether any members of their respective caucuses, particularly hardline Republicans angry the bill did not include deeper spending cuts, would use the Senate’s arcane rules to try to slow down its passage.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US Department of the Treasury said that it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday next week if the US Congress fails to act.
The Republican-controlled House passed the bill on Wednesday evening in a 314-117 vote. McCarthy lost the support of dozens of his fellow Republicans.
“Once this bill reaches the Senate, I will move to bring it to the floor as soon as possible,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also signaled that he would work for fast passage, saying: “I’ll be proud to support it without delay.”
Biden’s Democrats control the Senate by a thin 51-49 margin. The chamber’s rules require 60 votes to advance most legislation, meaning at least nine Republican votes are needed to pass most bills, including the debt ceiling deal.
The measure faces opposition from the right, with some Republicans angry the spending cuts were not deeper, and left, with some Democrats opposed to new work requirements imposed on some anti-poverty programs.
However, most lawmakers acknowledged they could not stomach the prospect of barreling ahead into default.
Schumer and McConnell were working behind the scenes to dissuade opponents from erecting procedural barriers that would delay passage.
Typically on important, contentious bills such as this one, the two Senate leaders find a way to allow just a couple of rebelling senators from each party to offer amendments under fast-track procedures, knowing they would lack the votes for passage.
“Unless you want to stay here through the weekend, I think some of our guys are going to need to get their votes” on their amendments, US Senator John Thune said.
Any Senate changes to the bill at this stage would mean it would have to go back to the House for final passage, a delay that could make the first-ever US government default a reality.
Republican US Senator Rand Paul who regularly seeks such last-minute amendments, told CBS News on Wednesday that he would not employ parliamentary procedures to delay action.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS