In a 63-36 vote, the US Senate passed the complete elimination of the debt ceiling BS for two years:
“America can breathe a sigh of relief, a sigh of relief, because in this process, we are avoiding default,” (Chuck) Schumer said ahead of a series of votes for the measure. “From the start, avoiding default has been our North Star.”
-NPR
The Senate spent much of the day trying to broker a deal among the chamber’s 100 members to speed up the voting schedule. But along the way, Senate leaders maintained confidence the legislation would pass.
Ultimately, leaders agreed to take up 11 amendments. However, Schumer warned none of the amendments could be adopted without raising the potential of default. All of them ultimately failed.
The final Senate vote came after 11 amendments were considered — a demand by various senators in exchange for agreeing to vote on the bill quickly; all of the amendments were shot down. That agreement allowed the Senate to skip a series of hurdles that could have, without unanimous consent, pushed the U.S. past the June 5 debt ceiling deadline. Senators also wanted to leave town for a long weekend, hastening the procedural talks.
