WASHINGTON—The Senate voted 74–26 Tuesday afternoon to pass the new compromise debt-reduction bill, known as the Budget Control Act of 2011. President Barack Obama subsequently signed the bill into law, authorizing an immediate $400 billion increase to the debt ceiling and ending the crisis over the nation’s fiscal situation that has hung over Capitol Hill since May.
Twenty-eight Republicans joined 45 Democrats and 1 Independent (Sen. Joseph Lieberman) in voting in favor the bill, while 19 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and another Independent (Sen. Bernie Sanders) voted against it.
The Senate vote took place a day after the House of Representatives voted 269–161 to pass the same legislation, and the deal was finalized with less than a day to go before the Treasury’s midnight deadline for raising the debt ceiling.
President Obama spoke afterwards in the White House Rose Garden, making it clear that with the debt debacle behind him, his next priority would be getting the sputtering economic recovery back on track.
“In the coming months, I'll continue also to fight for what the American people care most about: new jobs, higher wages, and faster economic growth. While Washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking what we can do to help the father looking for work,” said the President.
The President also touted the upcoming patent-reform debate and the need for an infrastructure bank as developments that would help drive the nation’s economic recovery.
The Budget Control Act will raise the debt ceiling by about $2.1 trillion, an increase that would last until early 2013. An immediate increase of $400 billion occurred upon President Obama’s signature of the bill; another $500 billion increase would occur sometime during the fall unless a supermajority in both chambers of Congress votes to disapprove it. A final increase would extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority through the end of the 2012 election season and into 2013.
The bill also implements an immediate cut to government spending of about $917 billion over the next decade, and calls on Congress to set up a special joint committee to find an additional $1.5 trillion in cuts. If the committee fails to come to an agreement, or if their recommendations are not found satisfactory by Congress, the bill includes mechanisms that would automatically trigger across-the-board spending cuts that would amount to $1.2 trillion over the next decade. These automatic cuts would affect both domestic and defense spending.
Congress now has 14 days to choose the members of the special committee, which will be made up of members from both parties and both chambers of Congress.
In addition, the bill includes caps on discretionary spending and calls for Congress to vote, before the end of the year, on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Such an amendment would require the approval of a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress in order to be sent to the states for ratification.
Twenty-eight Republicans joined 45 Democrats and 1 Independent (Sen. Joseph Lieberman) in voting in favor the bill, while 19 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and another Independent (Sen. Bernie Sanders) voted against it.
The Senate vote took place a day after the House of Representatives voted 269–161 to pass the same legislation, and the deal was finalized with less than a day to go before the Treasury’s midnight deadline for raising the debt ceiling.
President Obama spoke afterwards in the White House Rose Garden, making it clear that with the debt debacle behind him, his next priority would be getting the sputtering economic recovery back on track.
“In the coming months, I'll continue also to fight for what the American people care most about: new jobs, higher wages, and faster economic growth. While Washington has been absorbed in this debate about deficits, people across the country are asking what we can do to help the father looking for work,” said the President.
The President also touted the upcoming patent-reform debate and the need for an infrastructure bank as developments that would help drive the nation’s economic recovery.
The Budget Control Act will raise the debt ceiling by about $2.1 trillion, an increase that would last until early 2013. An immediate increase of $400 billion occurred upon President Obama’s signature of the bill; another $500 billion increase would occur sometime during the fall unless a supermajority in both chambers of Congress votes to disapprove it. A final increase would extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority through the end of the 2012 election season and into 2013.
The bill also implements an immediate cut to government spending of about $917 billion over the next decade, and calls on Congress to set up a special joint committee to find an additional $1.5 trillion in cuts. If the committee fails to come to an agreement, or if their recommendations are not found satisfactory by Congress, the bill includes mechanisms that would automatically trigger across-the-board spending cuts that would amount to $1.2 trillion over the next decade. These automatic cuts would affect both domestic and defense spending.
Congress now has 14 days to choose the members of the special committee, which will be made up of members from both parties and both chambers of Congress.
In addition, the bill includes caps on discretionary spending and calls for Congress to vote, before the end of the year, on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution. Such an amendment would require the approval of a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress in order to be sent to the states for ratification.
