The debt ceiling bill, officially the Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed the U.S. Senate Thursday night and was expected to be signed by President Joe Biden by this weekend, but the legislation saw normally cohesive party lines crossed and left few completely satisfied.
House members passed the act, which was negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avoid a default in the national debt, 314-177 and it passed the Senate 63-36.
Ten Republican amendments and one Democratic amendment, submitted by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., all failed.
Kaine wanted to take out the provision to pave the way to complete the beleaguered Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
His fellow Democratic senator from Virginia, Sen. Mark Warner, also had concerns about the MVP provision, but both voted for the act, convinced the debt ceiling had to be raised to avoid default, regardless of reservations he had about the bill in its entirety.
Republican Rep. Carol Miller, representing West Virginia’s 1st District, voted for the Fiscal Responsibility Act and saw it as “crucial for securing our children’s economic future.”
“This bill is proof that we can pass meaningful legislation while decreasing the national debt,” she said in explaining her vote. “From completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cutting government spending, voting ‘yes’ on this bill solidifies a conservative win for the American people.”
Miller’s conservative colleague from Virginia, Rep. Morgan Griffith, 9th District, which includes Southwest Virginia, also voted against it.
On Friday, Griffith said spending limits did not go far enough.
“As I’ve said before, I have long believed that Congress has a responsibility to the American people to rein in wasteful and excessive spending,”
lWest Virginia Senators Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, have always been on the same page with the act, primarily because of the inclusion of the MVP provisions.
“I am proud to announce that we have finally secured the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and have done so with broad, bipartisan support,” Manchin said in a statement after the vote, adding that he “doubled down” to build support by working with McCarthy. and others from both parties.
“I am thrilled that Republicans and Democrats came together to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline and shore up American energy security,” he said. “The Mountain Valley Pipeline was part of a broader, bipartisan deal to prevent the American government from defaulting on our loans, ensure we are able to pay our bills and prevent irreparable harm to our financial system. By working in a bipartisan fashion, we were able to protect Medicare, Social Security, and benefits for our Veterans.”
“I am very glad we did the responsible thing and took action to prevent our nation from facing default,” Capito said. “In doing so, we were also able to advance policies, including SNAP work requirements, clawing back unspent COVID funds, and the cut to the IRS budget, which are all responsible and necessary actions good for West Virginia and the entire country.”
Capito said the package also includes a “provision to expedite the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, something I personally fought to include, as well as language to help streamline projects and make it easier to build in America— another area I have advocated for and worked on for years.”
“This effort was truly a bipartisan one and demonstrates that Congress, as a whole, can work together to avoid default, which was the ultimate goal,” she said.