Senate to take up House Republicans’ debt ceiling package

The debt ceiling debate moves to the Senate after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday passed a debt ceiling package. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday said the Senate was almost certain to kill the legislation upon its arrival. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy must come to terms as soon as possible. But President Biden has promised to veto the legislation if it should ever reach his desk.

What are both sides saying about the bill itself? McCarthy’s “Limit, Save, Grow Act” would raise the U.S. borrowing limit by $1.5 trillion, but it would also cap spending to reduce the deficit by more than $4 trillion over the next decade. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called it the “Default on America Act,” and says it does not resolve the prospect of the U.S. government maxing out its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit this summer.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew for more about political maneuvering around the spending bill.