Following the House of Representatives, the US Senate also approved the increase in the debt ceiling on Thursday. Only the signature of President Joe Biden is now missing for the law to go into effect. Biden is expected to sign the law on Friday.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also announced prior to the vote that he would support the bill “without delay.” To pass the deal through the Senate, a 60-40 majority was needed, and as expected, that was easily achieved. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote that “the United States can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Last Saturday, Biden and McCarthy, leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives, entered into a preliminary agreement agreeing to raise the debt ceiling at least until January 1, 2025. On Thursday, a large majority in the House of Representatives agreed, despite opposition within certain factions of the Republican Party.
The United States would exceed its debt ceiling on Monday, June 5, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen if no deal was reached. The country would no longer be able to pay off debts, loans would be more difficult to take out and interest rates would jump, according to economists, which would also have an effect on the global economy.
Read also It is now the turn of the unfathomably unreasonable US politics to prop up the global economy