The US Senate on Thursday voted to support President Barack Obama's move to increase the nation's borrowing authority by $1.2 trillion, ending Republican attempts to block the debt limit hike. By a mostly partisan vote of 52-44, the Democratic-controlled Senate killed legislation passed by the Republican- led House of Representatives last week to deny the additional borrowing authority.
Both the House and Senate would have had to vote for the resolution of disapproval in order to stop the debt ceiling increase. Republicans pushed the legislation during this election year knowing that without a debt limit increase the US government would default, sending shock waves through global economies.
But confident that Senate Democrats would back Obama's move to raise borrowing authority to $16.394 trillion, Republicans took advantage of an opportunity ahead of November elections to restate their opposition to mounting government debt. "More spending, more debt, fewer jobs. That's what we've gotten from this administration. And now they want to make it worse," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said during debate of the legislation.
Last August, McConnell was one of 28 Republicans who voted in favour of legislation to cut government deficits in return for debt limit increases that Obama would request to keep government operations on track and Washington up to date with creditors.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.