The U.S. is saddled with trillions of dollars in national debt but Uncle Sam will likely get the green light to keep spending because the federal government is on track to increase the debt limit.
The measure approved by the Senate on Thursday would increase the statutory debt limit by a whopping $480 billion, a figure which the Treasury Department estimates would be sufficient to enable the government to keep borrowing through at least Dec. 3, according to the New York Times.
Now the bill will head to the House of Representatives, and once it passes there, it will head to President Joe Biden.
Sixty-one Senators, including 11 Republicans, voted on Thursday night to overcome a filibuster — that vote tally was 61-38.
Roll Call reported that those 11 GOP lawmakers included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and the following 10 others: John Barrasso of Wyoming, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, and John Thune of South Dakota.
After those 11 Republicans voted to advance the measure, the Senate chamber voted to increase the debt ceiling in a 50-48 party-line vote. No GOP senators voted in favor of passage, according to Roll Call.
Earlier on Thursday GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas noted that back in August McConnell was one of the GOP senators to sign onto a letter declaring that they would not vote to increase the debt ceiling.
“We, the undersigned Republican Senators, are letting Senate Democrats and the American public know that we will not vote to increase the debt ceiling, whether that increase comes through a stand-alone bill, a continuing resolution, or any other vehicle,” the letter declares.