What’s next for Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal as Senate races to beat default deadline?

The Senate will be in a race against the clock to pass the bipartisan debt limit legislation that the House of Representatives passed on Wednesday evening before the United States hits the date when it will default on its debt.

The House passed the legislation on a 314-117 margin, with more Democrats than Republicans voting in favour of it. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the Senate will act as quickly as possible to pass the legislation, with a vote coming as early as Thursday.

“The Senate will move quickly to pass the bill, send it to the president’s desk and put the awful and devastating risk of default behind us,” he said. “From the very beginning, Democrats have warned that default is a disaster and absolutely must be taken off the table.”

Mr Schumer said that he would not allow for amendments to the bill since it would cut too close to 5 June, the date that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States would be unable to fulfill its debt obligations.

“We can’t send anything back to the House,” he said. “That would risk default, plain and simple.”

But the legislation is likely to face major hurdles. Sen Tim Kaine (D-VA) has objected to the fact that the bill includes completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that spans from West Virginia to Virginia. The pipeline has long been a priority of Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV), a conservative Democrat from an energy-heavy state. But Mr Kaine and other Democrats criticised its inclusion.

On Thursday, Mr Kaine introduced an amendment to strike the completion of the pipeline from the debt limit negotiation.

In addition, Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced he would oppose the legislation for imposing work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, and eliminating the moratorium on student loan payments that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.