Senate Debates Debt Limit Legislation as Default Date Nears
The bipartisan bill to suspend the federal debt limit and impose spending caps encountered a new set of obstacles in the Senate on Thursday as a group of Republican defense hawks raised objections to Pentagon funding levels they said were too low, threatening to delay passage of a plan that must be enacted by Monday to avoid a government default.
Despite warnings from leaders of both parties that the Senate needed to act swiftly, a handful of Republicans took to the floor to assail the military spending in the measure negotiated between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden and demand that their concerns be addressed before it could be passed.
“To my House colleagues, I can’t believe you did this,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, accusing the architects of the measure of undercutting the military at a time of rising threats from Russia and China. “This budget is a win for China.”
The concerns threw the timetable for Senate action into flux, with some lawmakers saying a vote could come Thursday evening but officials cautioning approval might not come until Friday at the earliest.
Source: The New York Times
