We may have a breakthrough that deals with the debt ceiling crisis that we are expecting next week. There is currently a very complicated deal between Democrats and Republicans leadership to avoid the United States defaulting on its debt on or about December 15th for the first time in history.
If you know anything about the debt ceiling you would know that the United States Congress is responsible for passing legislation to pay for the bills they have incurred over the years.
One of the ways they have been paying those bills since the early 1900s is by raising or suspending the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is not an authorization of any new spending by raising or suspending the debt ceiling congress gives the Treasury Department authority and the tools it needs to pay the bills that we have incurred over the course of several Presidents.
Tuesday there was a proposed deal from Senate leadership that both parties have suggested they have made a deal on passing a new law to allow a fast track process to vote on a separate bill to raise the debt ceiling with just 51 votes one time only.
For this process to work there needs to be a few different votes. Vote number one would be the new law that would allow the debt ceiling legislation to pass the senate with only 51 votes. Keep in mind this law needs to pass both the Senate and the House Tuesday night it passed the House with a vote of 222–212. This bill had only one Republican that voted for Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
In order for this bill to pass in the Senate it needs 60 votes meaning all Democrats and Independents and 10 Republicans would need to vote for this bill in order for it to pass.
Assuming that it passes the Senate like it did the House. Then we would move to vote two where Democrats and Independents by themselves would have to raise the debt ceiling by a specific dollar amount. During the second vote Vice President Kamala Harris would need to come to the Senate Floor to be the 51st vote.
Vice President Kamala Harris would have to vote 51st because since the Summer the Republican party has said they have 0 interest in getting involved in raising or suspending the debt ceiling even though it always was a bipartisan process.
