(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Proclaiming it a historic opportunity to advance the leftist agendas pushed by the Biden administration, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate in the dark of late Thursday night passed the so-called Fiscal Responsibility Act and lauded House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for helping to scrap any semblance of a debt ceiling for the remainder of the president’s term.
“We prevented a catastrophic default that would have decimated our economy and inflected (sic) immense pain on families,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted of the 63-36 vote. “We preserved the lion’s share of the historic investments we made. We took off the table the worst parts of the MAGA Republican plan that would have hurt families.”
The legislation, which passed the GOP-controlled House on Wednesday, raises the debt ceiling by at least $4 trillion, retains the bulk of new IRS compliance agents sought by Democrats and claws back a meager spoonful of a bloated $4 trillion in excess COVID-19 funds.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., heaped kudos on McCarthy for leading the House to approve a deal that “avoids the catastrophic consequences of default and begins to curb Washington Democrats’ addiction to reckless spending that grows our nation’s debt.”
Other notable GOP Senators among the 17 who were glad to begin curbing Democrat spending by approving a bill that Democrats loved for its prolific spending included: Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, John Thune, S.D., Thom Tillis, N.C., Susan Collins, Maine, John Cornyn, Texas, Mitt Romney, Utah, and Joni Ernst, Iowa.
Democrats who pushed the bill to victory with their 44 votes included radical leftists Cory Booker, N.J., Amy Klobuchar, Minn., Raphael Warnock, Ga., Dick Durbin, Del., and Richard Blumenthal, Conn., along with Joe Manchin, W. Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.
Biden gushed praise for the legislation that McCarthy wrangled through the House after negotiating the deal, crowing that “Our work is far from finished,” and vowed to sign the bill into law.
“Tonight, senators from both parties voted to protect the hard-earned economic progress we have made and prevent a first-ever default by the United States,” Biden said in a statement.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of 31 GOP votes against the bill, pushed back on McConnell and Biden’s default gaslighting.
“Default isn’t on the table. It’s not going to happen,” Lee tweeted. “Those who say opposing this bill threatens default want the bill to pass for all the wrong reasons.”
The McCarthy debt-ceiling bill got far more love from Senate Democrats than from Republicans, with 46 Dems and only 17 Republicans voting for it. Meanwhile, 31 Republicans and just 5 Dems voted against it. This has been unifying for Dems. Quite the opposite for Republicans. pic.twitter.com/QWWos44JmM
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 2, 2023
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also voted against the bill, but only because it didn’t provide boatloads of more cash for Ukraine. His opposition because of want for more funding was joined by Democrats John Fetterman, Pa., Edward Markey, Mass., Jeff Merkley, Ore., Elizabeth Warren, Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., blasted the spending spree fostered by colleagues from both parties who supported what he called a “disastrous debt deal.”
“Unfortunately, Democrats seem to have no problem mortgaging our children’s future, and Republicans haven’t figured out a way to stop them,” Johnson said.
“I’ve consistently voted against massive deficit spending, so I’ll let those who consistently support it vote to increase the debt ceiling to accommodate their recklessness.”
A flurry of amendments sought by fiscally conservative Republicans looking to ease some of the pain wrought by the Biden/McCarthy collaboration were quickly defeated.
“Any change to this bill that forces us to send it back to the House would be entirely unacceptable,” Schumer insisted.
“As it turns out, it did essentially none of the things that its sponsors claimed it did,” Lee countered of the snow job. “Things that were supposed to appeal to Republicans.”
The Senate has passed a farce.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 2, 2023
One of the amendments that Democrats shot down in short order was offered by Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., who voted against the bill after proposing a fiscally responsible alternative.
“I don’t think there’s anything conservative about the Biden-McCarthy plan, to add unlimited spending or unlimited borrowing for the next two years, go all the way through the next election, basically is an abdication of any kind of responsibility,” Paul said.
“There’ll be no discussion over any kind of restraint in spending after we allow the borrowing to go up for two years.”
Republicans who also voted against the McCarthy/Biden deal included:
- John Barrasso, Wyo.
- Marsha Blackburn, Tenn.
- Mike Braun, Ind.
- Katie Britt, Ala.
- Ted Budd, N.C.
- Bill Cassidy, La.
- Tom Cotton, Ark.
- Mike Crapo, Idaho
- Ted Cruz, Texas
- Steve Daines, Mont.
- Deb Fischer, Neb.
- Josh Hawley, Mo.
- Cindy Hyde-Smith, Miss.
- John Kennedy, La.
- James Lankford, Okla.
- Cynthia Lummis, Wyo.
- Roger Marshall, Kan.
- Pete Ricketts, Neb.
- Jim Risch, Idaho
- Marco Rubio, Fla.
- Eric Schmitt, Mo.
- Tim Scott, S.C.
- Rick Scott, Fla.
- Dan Sullivan, Ala.
- Tommy Tuberville, Ala.
- JD Vance, Ohio
- Roger Wicker, Miss.
