WASHINGTON
(AP) - After a dramatic Senate tally in which top GOP leaders cast the
crucial votes, must-pass legislation to allow the government to borrow
money to pay its bills cleared Congress Wednesday for President Barack
Obama's signature.
Senate clears debt limit measure for Obama
By ANDREW TAYLOR / Associated Press / February 12, 2014
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation to
raise the federal debt limit and prevent a crippling government default
cleared Congress on Wednesday with an awkward assist from top Senate
Republican leaders who were forced into a politically treacherous vote
engineered by tea party favorite Ted Cruz.
The Texas Republican’s maneuver
forced several GOP colleagues, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
of Kentucky, into a reluctant vote against a filibuster, helping the
measure along. It’s a vote likely to cause grief for McConnell, who is
facing a primary election challenges.
On a day of legislative drama, the
key vote clearing the way for final action was held open for more than
an hour — as the stock market looked on nervously — and broke open only
after McConnell and top lieutenant John Cornyn, R-Texas, unexpectedly
voted ‘‘aye.’’ Several other Republicans then switched their votes to
support the measure, ultimately breaking the filibuster by a 67-31
margin.
The bill then passed the Senate by
a near party-line 55-43 vote, with all of the yes votes coming from
President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies.
The president is now clear to sign
the bill, which allows the government to borrow all the money it needs
to pay bills such as Social Security benefits, federal salaries, and
payments to Medicare and Medicaid providers. Failure to pass it would
have likely sent the stock market — which dipped modestly as the voting
dragged on — into a tailspin.
After the tally, Cruz said he had
no regrets about his political maneuvers in opposition to the bill,
saying the ‘‘Senate has given President Obama a blank check.’’
As for forcing a difficult vote upon McConnell, Cruz said: ‘‘That is ultimately a decision ... for the voters of Kentucky.’’
McConnell faces a primary election
challenge from tea party candidate Matt Bevin and has been under sharp
criticism from outside groups who say he isn’t conservative enough.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., was among those who appeared frustrated by the political theatrics.
‘‘A lot of people stepped up and
did what they needed to do,’’ Corker said of those who acted to let the
must-pass legislation win final approval. Congress has never failed to
act to prevent a default on U.S. obligations, which most experts say
would spook financial markets and cause a spike in interest rates.
Cruz countered: ‘‘In my view,
every Republican should stand together against raising the debt ceiling
without meaningful structural reforms to rein in our out-of-control
spending.’’
The same bill had passed the House
on Tuesday after Republican leaders gave up efforts to hold up the debt
ceiling measure to win concessions from Obama on GOP agenda items like
winning approval of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Quick action on this latest debt
limit bill stands in contrast to lengthy showdowns in 2012 and last
fall, when Republicans sought to use the must-pass legislation as
leverage to win concessions from Obama. They succeeded in 2011, winning
about $2 trillion in spending cuts. But Obama has been unwilling to
negotiate over the deb limit since his re-election, and Wednesday’s
legislation is the third consecutive debt measure passed without White
House concessions.
Republicans have been less
confrontational since October’s 16-day partial government shutdown sent
GOP poll numbers skidding and chastened the party’s tea party faction.
Republicans have instead sought to focus voters’ attention on the
implementation and effects of Obama’s health care law.
But most Republicans still say any
increase in the debt ceiling should be accompanied by cuts to the
spiraling costs of costly benefit programs like Medicare.
‘‘We need some reform before we
raise the debt ceiling. We need to demonstrate that we are taking steps
that will reduce the accumulation of debt in the future,’’ said Alabama
Sen. Jeff Sessions, top Republican on the Budget Committee. ‘‘And the
president and the Democratic Senate have just flatly refused. So they've
just said, ‘We'll accept no restraint on spending'.’’
Some Republicans seemed irked that
Cruz wouldn’t let the bill pass without forcing it to clear a 60-vote
threshold that required some Republicans to help it advance.
‘‘I'm not going to talk about that,’’ said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when asked if Republicans are annoyed with Cruz.
The debt measure permits Treasury
to borrow regularly through March 15, 2015, putting the issue off until
after the November elections and setting it up for the new Congress to
handle next year.
If Republicans take over the
Senate, they’re likely to insist on linking the debt ceiling to spending
cuts and other GOP agenda items. But for now at least, the issue is
being handled the old fashioned way, with the party of the incumbent
president being responsible for supplying the votes to pass it and with
the minority party not standing in the way.
‘‘I think we will go back to the
responsible way of making sure that our country does not default,’’ said
Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash.
___
Associated Press Writer Henry Jackson contributed to this report.
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