US Senate approves deal to raise debt ceiling bill, heads to Biden

The United States Senate has voted and passed a bipartisan bill to suspend the government’s debt ceiling while increasing the country’s debt ceiling, clearing the bill’s last major hurdle before it reaches the desk of President Joe Biden.

The bill is based on an agreement reached on Sunday between the Democratic president and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The Biden administration sought to raise the ceiling, while Republicans demanded spending cuts.

The bill was put to a vote in the full Senate on Thursday, one day after it was approved by the House.

Some members of the Democratic-controlled Senate, including Republicans, opposed the bill. But Biden and Congressional leaders were able to persuade the chamber to support it.

The Senate voted 63-36, surpassing the 60 votes required for the bill’s passage.

The vote comes as the US hurtles towards a June 5 deadline to raise the government borrowing limit or face default.

The legislation says non-defense spending for fiscal 2024 would be roughly flat at current levels, in exchange for temporarily removing the federal government’s borrowing limit until January 2025.

This would ensure there will be no political standoff over the issue before the presidential election in the autumn of next year.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that the government would default as early as June 5 if the borrowing limit was not raised.