The U.S. House of Representatives voted 314-117 in favor of a crucial debt-ceiling bill on Wednesday night, keeping Washington on track to meet the Treasury Department’s Monday deadline.
There were 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats voting for the measure, while 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats voted against it.
Those tallies show the extent of the opposition to the bipartisan debt-limit package among House Republicans who defied their leaders, as well as the level of support for it among House Democrats even as it has a Democratic president’s backing. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, achieved an agreement on the package over the holiday weekend.
The bill, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act, is now going to the Senate before it can get signed into law by Biden. Several senators have indicated they don’t plan to let it move quickly through the Democratic-run chamber.
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The package aims to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a market-shaking default by the federal government while limiting spending.
“Passing the Fiscal Responsibility Act is a crucial first step for putting America back on track,” McCarthy said in a floor speech before the House’s final vote. “Yes, it may not include everything we need to do, but it is absolutely what we need to do right now.”
But Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas was among the members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who voiced concerns and voted “nay.”
“My beef is that you cut a deal that shouldn’t have been cut,” Roy said in a floor speech. “The fact is, at best, we have a two-year spending freeze that’s full of loopholes and gimmicks that would allow for increased funding for the federal bureaucracy in order to achieve a $4 trillion increase in the debt by Jan. 1 of 2025.”
Earlier Wednesday, the House voted 241-187 in favor of a procedural measure tied to the debt-limit bill.
Biden told reporters earlier Wednesday that he was upbeat on the House’s upcoming vote, as he prepared to travel to Colorado to deliver a commencement address on Thursday at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“God willing, by the time I land, Congress will have acted, the House will have acted and we’ll be one step closer,” the president said.
DJIA,
closed with losses on Wednesday, as investors waited for the debt-ceiling vote and assessed a reporting showing job openings at a three-month high, another sign that more interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could be coming.
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This story originally appeared on Marketwatch
