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- Former President Donald Trump has expressed his disagreement with raising the debt ceiling.
- But 11 GOP senators helped Democrats clear a procedural vote that paved the way for the final pass.
- Trump’s influence is more limited in the Senate than in the House.
Former President Donald Trump urged Senate Republicans to oppose raising the debt ceiling just minutes before the vote begins. But 11 GOP senators – including the top Republican in the upper house – still ignored his comments and helped Democrats overcome a procedural hurdle in the deadlocked Senate, allowing the bill to ultimately pass.
“Republican Senators, do not vote for this terrible deal proposed by the Mitch McConnell withdrawal. Be strong for our country. The American people are with you!” advised the former president.
Eleven GOP senators helped Democrats clear a first procedural vote to interrupt debate and cross the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome an obstruction. This allowed the measure to pass to the final vote with only Democratic votes.
Sense. John Barrasso from Wyoming, Roy Blunt from Missouri, Shelley Moore-Capito from West Virginia, Susan Collins from Maine, John Cornyn from Texas, Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Rob Portman from Ohio, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Richard Shelby of Alabama and John Thune of South Dakota helped Democrats break the filibuster. The closing vote was 61-38; the final vote on the bill was 50-48 depending on party lines.
Trump’s influence is more limited in the Senate than in the House, where he wields disproportionate influence among Republican lawmakers. Over the summer, 19 Republican senators backed President Joe Biden’s $ 550 billion infrastructure bill, despite his demands to defeat it. Yet that does not mean that he has no influence in the Senate.
“I think Donald Trump always influences people’s votes whether he says it or not,” Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told reporters.
Senate Republicans were largely unhappy with McConnell’s move on Thursday, and struggled to unearth 10 votes from their ranks to clear the first procedural vote, known as the Closing. Raising the debt ceiling would prevent a government default. A deal struck Thursday allows for a $ 480 billion increase through Dec. 3.
The debt ceiling is the statutory ceiling on the amount the government can borrow to pay off its bills. The suspension of the limit gives the United States more time to pay its bills for pandemic stimulus and other key assistance programs of the past two years. If Congress does not raise the limit, the government can default on its debt and plunge the United States into yet another economic crisis.
“We have avoided the fiscal cliff – at least for now,” Murkowski told reporters after the vote.
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