--- title: Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal description: Lawmakers could vote as soon as Thursday night, and both sides expect the bipartisan compromise to pass. canonical: https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-06-01T19:48:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:24:08.525Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal og:description: Lawmakers could vote as soon as Thursday night, and both sides expect the bipartisan compromise to pass og:url: https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3df450b4e1df7ab6/698a3d8722fb8531dae2ebbf/Schumer-Senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5194 og:image:height: 2922 og:image:alt: Senate Negotiates Limit Bill After House Passage og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal twitter:description: Lawmakers could vote as soon as Thursday night, and both sides expect the bipartisan compromise to pass twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3df450b4e1df7ab6/698a3d8722fb8531dae2ebbf/Schumer-Senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal > Sponsored content. 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The Biden Administration remains locked in a standoff with congressional Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling, just two weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. The U.S. government hit its congressionally imposed $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the country could run out of cash as early as June 1 if Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are unable to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jun 1, 2023 7:48 PM UTC The Biden Administration remains locked in a standoff with congressional Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling, just two weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. The U.S. government hit its congressionally imposed $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the country could run out of cash as early as June 1 if Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are unable to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Jun 1, 2023 7:48 PM UTC Senate leaders scrambled Thursday to thwart efforts to delay a bill to lift the debt ceiling and get a bipartisan deal to President Biden’s desk and avert a catastrophic default. A day after the Republican-controlled [House passed the bill](https://time.com/6284000/house-debt-ceiling-bill-passes/) in a 314-117 vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said that the chamber would remain in session until it approved the package and urged his colleagues not to make changes to the legislation, which would send it back to the House with a June 5 deadline looming. “Time is a luxury the Senate does not have if we want to prevent default,” Schumer said during floor remarks. “There is no good reason, none, to bring this process down to the wire.” Despite criticism from liberals and conservatives alike, members of both parties expect sufficient support in the Senate to pass the legislation. Multiple lawmakers said a vote on the bill could come as early as Thursday night, but the timeline for Senate action remains unclear amid opposition from both sides. Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell tried to quell those concerns on Thursday, working behind the scenes to dissuade opponents from erecting procedural barriers that would delay passage of the bill. Some have vowed to propose amendments in exchange for allowing the legislation to pass quickly. Senate critics have expressed various reservations. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced an amendment Thursday that would cut total federal spending by 5% a year in exchange for allowing the deal to move more quickly through the Senate, while Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has said he will seek an amendment to renegotiate military funding levels. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia filed an amendment to strip out a provision to expedite federal permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial natural-gas pipeline between West Virginia and Virginia that has been repeatedly stalled on environmental concerns. **Read more:** [_Here’s What’s in the Debt Ceiling Bill._](https://time.com/6283225/debt-ceiling-deal/) By midday Thursday, another obstacle seemed to emerge as a group of Senate Republicans demanded a commitment from Schumer to pass a supplemental defense spending bill later this year, as well as pledge to take up all 12 annual appropriations bills as a condition for moving forward quickly. (Congress has not passed all 12 appropriations bills in time [since 1996](https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FINAL.SBC.BPR.Leg.SUMMARY.pdf)). Under the current framework, the deal boosts spending for the military next year by about 3%, raising the cap to $886 billion. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, called the bill’s military spending provisions “woefully inadequate” on Thursday. The debt-limit bill would also slash spending on defense and nondefense by 1% if Congress fails to pass the annual spending bills by the end of the calendar year, irking some Republicans who fear Democrats could use it as leverage in future negotiations. “Bottom line, folks—we’re not leaving until we get a path to fix this problem,” Graham said Thursday. It’s not uncommon for senators to propose changes to contentious bills when they reach the chamber, but any amendments at this stage would require that it be sent back to the House, potentially delaying final passage as the deadline for default looms. Democrats control the Senate by a 51-49 margin, meaning at least nine Republican votes are needed to clear the 60-vote threshold to surmount a possible filibuster. **Read More:** [_House Passes Debt Ceiling Bill, Setting Up Crucial Senate Vote_](https://time.com/6284000/house-debt-ceiling-bill-passes/)_._ The compromise pact between Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy was sealed late Saturday after months of acrimonious debate. In exchange for suspending the debt ceiling until 2025, the legislation would impose stricter work requirements for food stamps, claw back some funding for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement and unspent COVID-19 relief money, accelerate the permitting of new energy projects, and officially end the Biden Administration’s student loan repayment freeze. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the plan would save $1.5 trillion over 10 years—far less than the $4.8 trillion in savings that [House Republicans approved](https://time.com/6274973/mccarthy-debt-ceiling-bill-holdouts/) in their budget blueprint in April, as well as the $3 trillion in deficit cuts that Biden aimed for in his budget proposal. “This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise. Neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said. “I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties. This agreement meets that test.” The last time the U.S. government came this close to default was in 2011\. That standoff, resolved by a last-minute deal, sent shockwaves through financial markets, led to the first-ever downgrade of the government’s credit rating, and pushed up the nation’s borrowing costs. ## Transcript [00:00] Condiments are warning that the US is on the precipice [00:02] of economic Calamity. [00:03] If the government can't come together and raise the federal [00:06] debt limit, now, this isn't the first time, [00:08] the US has been in this situation. [00:09] We've been here before and the debt-limit crisis has always [00:13] been resolved by Congress, but this year's B is turning out to [00:16] be a lot more messy than previous years. [00:18] And since this debt ceiling is one of the few must pass pieces [00:21] of legislation. Both parties have to use this issue as an opportunity [00:25] to take a political stand and exact concessions to cut back [00:29] on government spending, it would cause the government to [00:31] default on its legal obligations for the first time in history, [00:35] creating a financial crisis and threatening jobs for everyday [00:39] Americans. It could even potentially put the US get risk of a recession. [00:47] The only country that has a debt ceiling is Denmark the debt [00:51] limit or the debt. [00:51] Ceiling is a cap on the total amount of money that the federal [00:55] government is authorized to borrow to fulfill its Financial Obligations. [00:58] Everything at the government spends, money on military [01:02] to Social Security, and Veterans Benefits has to be funded, [01:06] either through tax revenue, or debt. [01:08] And for the last two decades, the US has been running a budget [01:11] deficit. Adding 25 trillion dollars in debt. [01:14] So the treasury Department now says that the government [01:17] could be unable to issue new debt and pay its bills as early [01:20] as June 1st. [01:21] But Congress has always acted when called upon to raise. [01:24] The debt limit has 1960 Congress. [01:27] Acted 78 separate times to permanently raise temporarily [01:30] extend a revised the debt limit. [01:32] The debt ceiling has become an increasingly political issue [01:36] in recent years, especially when power in Washington is divided [01:39] as it is right now, Republicans control the house and Democrats [01:43] control the presidency in the Senate. [01:44] Democrats have been very United on this front. [01:47] I have insisted from the beginning that they won't accept [01:50] any concessions attached to a deal and continue to blame Republicans [01:54] for taking the country's credit hostage in our stash. [02:01] Continue to me as we speak is not a fact and they're making [02:03] progress I made clear time and again to falling on a national [02:07] debt is not an option but that no negotiation strategy, [02:11] may be impractical with the June 1st deadline approaching [02:14] in less than two weeks. [02:14] The number of places that we are still far apart. [02:17] I mean, it didn't seem like the economy, [02:21] plays a pivotal role in how Americans cast their ballots. [02:24] So, the outcome of these debt limit discussions, [02:27] could shape. What happens in 2024, particularly if Biden was [02:31] unable to raise the debt limit before defaulting, [02:33] or if he accepts concessions that undo, [02:35] his legislative accomplishment, for instance, progresses. [02:38] My see him as weak. [02:39] If he accepts, the GOP is proposed, [02:41] work requirements for federal aid. [02:43] This is a very big moment for Joe Biden. [02:45] And as my colleague, Phil Elliott, remarkably little of it is [02:49] under his sole control. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/"},"headline":"Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal","datePublished":"2023-06-01T19:48:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:24:08.525Z","description":"Lawmakers could vote as soon as Thursday night, and both sides expect the bipartisan compromise to pass","url":"https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/","keywords":["Congress","uspoliticspolicy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3df450b4e1df7ab6/698a3d8722fb8531dae2ebbf/Schumer-Senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3df450b4e1df7ab6/698a3d8722fb8531dae2ebbf/Schumer-Senate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Negotiates Limit Bill After House Passage","caption":"Senate Negotiates Limit Bill After House Passage","creditText":"Kevin Dietsch–Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6284227/senate-debt-ceiling-vote-2023/","name":"Senate Races To Pass Debt Deal"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About the History of the Debt Ceiling","description":"The Biden Administration remains locked in a standoff with congressional Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling, just two weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. 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