Global Courant
With just days until a June 5 deadline, the Senate is now racing against time to lift the bill from the debt ceiling and avoid what would be an economically catastrophic bankruptcy.
But while Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said work would begin immediately after the House passage Wednesday night, it’s rare for anything to be resolved quickly in the United States Senate.
“We’re almost ready to put this threat of default behind us,” Schumer, DN.Y., said Wednesday. “But there is more work, perhaps the most important work, to be done: getting it into law.”
No room for typical Senate delay
As the drama plays out, there is almost no room for delay if the bill is due at President Joe Biden’s desk on Monday, the day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the US could run out of money to pay all its bills. to be able to pay on time and in full.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks at a news conference following Senate Democrat policy lunches in Washington, May 31, 2023.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
The current goal, aides on both sides of the aisle say, is to pass the measure late Friday.
Besides the deadline, it might help that that should also be the start of a three-day weekend for senators — and leaving Washington is a long-standing motivator for faster action.
Schumer: No changes, ‘plain and simple’
Threatening to delay the process, however, is a potential filibuster or time-consuming debate and vote on amendments that several lawmakers are seeking, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well.
Senators are normally given a great deal of respect and time to have their say, but when asked on Wednesday how many amendments he would allow, Schumer balked. He stressed that the bill cannot be changed or it would have to go back to the House for review.
“We are going to do everything we can to move the bill quickly,” Schumer told ABC News. “We can’t send anything back to the House. Clear and simple.’
“We have to avoid default, we have to,” he added.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had a similar “time is of the essence” message for his own conference.
“I can tell you what I hope happens — that those who have amendments, if they get votes, will give back time so that we can wrap up this Thursday or Friday and calm the country and the markets,” McConnell said Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks at a news conference following Senate Republican policy luncheons in Washington, DC, May 31, 2023.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Senate GOP leaders see Friday night passage possible
Minority Whip John Thune, RS.D, . told ABC News Wednesday that if Republicans get votes on about half a dozen amendments, not even GOP opposition will block a swift passage of the deal.
When asked if that could be Friday night, Thune agreed: “Yeah, I mean, I think it could happen pretty soon if there’s an agreement. But we’ll get a better sense of where our members are today.”
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., tweeted Wednesday that he will “press for an amendment vote” on his alternate debt ceiling plan that would raise the cap by $500 billion while cutting spending by 5% across the board, and Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said he would try to introduce an amendment to increase the level of defense spending in the bill.
The current Biden-McCarthy deal only allows for a 1% increase in defense next fiscal year, which, factoring in inflation, amounts to a cut.
“I think that’s the worst part of the deal,” McConnell said Wednesday. “The build-up of the defense – which we started in December – ebbs away and then it’s just a little bit but more than domestic. So I don’t think it’s as good as I’d like it to be, but if you look at the totality of the agreement, I think it should be supported and our defense needs will still be there.”
Despite those concerns, there seems to be general agreement on the bottom line: that if the bill is amended by even a single letter, it should go back to the House, and that at that point, both the country and the country face an uncertain situation. come to stand. lot.
