The U.S. Senate passed Wednesday night a bipartisan deal announced earlier in the day that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling limit before and reopen the government, and the House is expected to vote on the deal soon.
If passed, it would allow the U.S. Treasury to borrow through February 7 and reopen the government through January 15.
Additionally, it will appoint members of the House and Senate to work out a longer-term budget deal by mid-December and require income verifications for those receiving subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
House Speaker John Boehner has said he will also back the new plan and bring it up for a vote in the house.
What’s your reaction to the apparent deal in Washington to reopen the government and allow the United States to continue to pay its bills? Is the compromise fair? Join the conversation of “The Call” at 9 p.m. with NY1′s John Schiumo or email your thoughts.
The deal comes on the 16th day of the partial federal government shutdown, and comes a day after a warning from credit rating agency Fitch, which says it may downgrade the nation’s rating because of the budget impasse.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the bill was far less than what his party was after, but would work for the time being.
House Republicans met behind closed doors earlier Wednesday to discuss the plan. They said they are prepared to send the bill to the floor, even though it is not expected to get a majority of Republican votes.
Several Republicans said they will not vote for the bill, but they think it will pass and help the party start to heal.
“I believe you fix things when they’re in front of you,” said Rep. Chris Collins of Geneseo, N.Y. “So it’s just my philosophy of government that I don’t like ‘kick the can,’ and that’s what this did.”
“I think everyone is ready for some unity. I think everybody is ready to move on from this,” said Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina. “I think there have been some lessons learned. I think that we just need to move on to the next phase.”
Democrats in the House are expected to provide upwards of 200 of the 217 votes needed to pass the bill.
“We’re going to provide the votes necessary to open the government and avoid default,” said Rep. Steve Israel, whose district covers parts of Queens and Long Island. “This is what Democrats did a year ago during the Hurricane Sandy relief bill, when Republicans refused to support it. It’s what we did last January, when the Republicans brought us close to another cliff. We’ve gotten very good at making sure Republicans don’t pull the economy off a cliff. We’ve done it before. We will do it again.”
The votes were set in motion after Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the man behind the “Defund Obamacare” movement, said he would not block a vote.
“The timing of this vote, it is my understanding from leadership, it is likely to occur today,” Cruz said. “I have no objections to the timing of those vote, and the reason is simple. There’s nothing to be gained from delaying this vote one day or two days. The outcome will be the same. Every senator, every member of the House is going to have to make a decision where he or she stands. But there’s no benefit, I’ve never had any intention of delaying the timing of this vote.”
If the bill passes both chambers of Congress, it will go on to the president for his signature.
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