Senate passes sweeping budget deal, sending it to Trump

Source: The Hill | August 1, 2019 | Jordain Carney

The Senate passed a sweeping two-year budget and debt ceiling deal on Thursday, sending the agreement to President Trump’s desk.

Senators voted 67-28 to approve the bill, which suspends the debt ceiling until mid-2021 and adds an estimated $1.7 trillion to the deficit over the next decade compared to automatic spending cuts that would have otherwise kicked in.

Twenty-three GOP senators joined with five Democrats to oppose the bill. Five senators, including four 2020 contenders, didn’t vote.

The bill was one of the final must-pass items on the Senate’s to-do list, paving the way for the chamber to quickly leave for the five-week August recess. The House already passed the budget deal last week, meaning it now goes to Trump’s desk, where he’s expected to sign it.

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In the end, 23 GOP senators voted against the bill, with opposition spanning the caucus from libertarian-leaning senators like Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), as well as freshmen Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mitt Romney (R-Fla.).

GOP John Kennedy (La.), one of the “no” votes, told The Hill that he would oppose the bill because “it continues our deficit spending without much of an effort, if any, to try to save money.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another “no” vote, also argued that lawmakers should have dealt with the debt ceiling and the budget caps separately. While Mnuchin urged Congress to lift the debt ceiling before the August break, lawmakers had until January to avoid across-the-board cuts under sequestration.

“Potentially given the way they negotiated it, but they say that about everything,” Rubio said when asked about the argument from leadership that this was the best possible deal in a divided government.

“Ultimately we should have dealt with the debt limit and we should have dealt with the spending caps,” he added. “I’m not sure those two are related.”

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