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Headline Roundup December 15th, 2021

Congress Passes Bill to Raise Debt Ceiling

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. House passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, hours after the Senate passed the same bill by a 50-49 vote. Every House Republican opposed the bill, except for Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

The bill, which raises the debt limit to $31.4 trillion, avoids a federal default before the Dec. 15 deadline set by the Treasury Department. The bill is now headed to President Joe Biden's desk, and he is expected to sign it soon.

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Congress sends Biden $2.5T debt limit hike, avoiding default
Congress sends Biden $2.5T debt limit hike, avoiding default

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

News

Congress averted a catastrophic debt default early Wednesday morning after Democratic majorities in both chambers voted to send a $2.5 trillion increase in the nation’s borrowing authority to President Joe Biden over lockstep Republican opposition.

Capping a marathon day, the House gave final approval to the legislation early Wednesday morning on a near-party-line 221-209 vote, defusing a volatile issue until after the 2022 midterm elections. The action came just hours shy of a deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who warned last month that she was running out of...

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Congress raises the debt ceiling, pushing the divisive issue to after the 2022 midterms
Congress raises the debt ceiling, pushing the divisive issue to after the 2022 midterms

Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images North America

News

Lawmakers in the House have agreed to a deal that will allow the federal government to avoid defaulting on its loans until early 2023.

The House voted 221 to 209 Wednesday to increase the federal borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion.

NPR's Kelsey Snell reports the vote was mostly along party lines; Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to approve the measure. Pushing the deadline to 2023 likely means whatever party controls Congress after the 2022 midterm elections will decide how to address the...

Open on NPR (Online News)
Democrats vote to hike the federal debt to $31.4 trillion, send measure to Biden
Democrats vote to hike the federal debt to $31.4 trillion, send measure to Biden

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

News

Congressional Democrats passed legislation hiking the federal debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion in an all-night sprint to allow President Biden to continue borrowing money to pay for government expenditures until at least early 2023.

Senate Democrats narrowly passed the bill, 50 votes to 49, in the evenly split chamber before the Democratic House majority muscled it across the finish line early Wednesday morning. 

The bill, which Mr. Biden is expected to quickly sign, will push the national debt limit to $31.4 trillion from roughly $29 trillion.

“Responsible governing has won on this exceedingly important...

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