The bill, which implements the deal struck by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, passed in a 63-36 vote. Four Democrats, 31 Republicans and one Independent, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, voted "no."
House lawmakers sent the bill to the Senate on Wednesday in a bipartisan 314-117 vote after weeks of intense negotiations between McCarthy and Biden. The Senate's inability to pass its own bill made it a bystander in those talks and gave senators no realistic option other than approving the deal.
The bipartisan deal suspends the debt limit with no cap through Jan. 1, 2025, cuts non-defense spending to near fiscal 2022 levels, caps spending increases at 1% the following year and sets non-mandatory caps for the four years after. It also claws back some money aimed at the Internal Revenue Service and some unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds.
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