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Debt ceiling bill clears Congress
BY LISA MASCARO, Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- With agreement to lift the nation's debt ceiling secured, Congress now turns to the next budget showdown: the deep automatic spending cuts that will start to hit the economy next month, which lawmakers appear unwilling -- or unable -- to stop.
The measure cleared the Senate on a vote of 64-34 after winning House approval late last week. It permits the Treasury to borrow above the current $16.4 trillion debt limit through May 18. The White House has said Obama will sign it.
Pennsylvania's two senators split on the vote, with Democrat Sen. Bob Casey voting for and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey voting against the measure.
Now, Congress must decide whether to stop the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that are scheduled to begin March 1. Those reductions were once considered so severe they would force lawmakers to the table to negotiate a more balanced deficit-reduction compromise.
With a month to go, both sides admit there is little hope they can reach agreement.
The cuts, called a sequester in Washington parlance, would slice equally across defense and domestic programs, drawing government spending out of the already sluggish economy.
"I think it's more likely to happen," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is leading an increasingly lonely campaign to prevent Pentagon reductions. "In a body that's known for doing pretty dumb things, this to me wins the prize."
The prospect of allowing the cuts to take place has divided the Republican Party, as many conservatives have come to the conclusion that severe cuts are better than none, especially as they continue to smart over the tax increases Obama achieved as part of the year-end fiscal cliff deal.
Ever since House Speaker John A. Boehner engineered passage of the debt ceiling measure last week in the lower chamber, Republicans on and off Capitol Hill have complained that the party has now lost two opportunities to extract budget cuts from the White House.
"The sequester's going to go into effect on March 1st unless there are cuts and reforms that get us on a plan to balance a budget over the next 10 years," the Ohio Republican said last week after the House approved the temporary debt ceiling legislation. "It's as simple as that."
Boehner devised the bill as a way to punt this most risky of budget issues and move to others. He wanted to avoid the spectacle of a showdown with the White House that could lead to a default as his conservative troops pressed for spending reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit.
To attract conservative support, the speaker tacked on a provision to withhold lawmakers' pay if the House or Senate fails to approve a budget for the next fiscal year.
Obama is expected to swiftly sign the measure.
Lawmakers and their aides have acknowledged that while many ideas are being floated to prevent the cuts, the critical differences that have blocked past deals remain: Democrats want tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations; Republicans want only cuts, particularly those that shift the burden from defense and to domestic programs.
Some expect the sequestration would go into effect only temporarily, perhaps until March 27, when lawmakers will need to reach agreement to continue funding the government or risk a shutdown.
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