The Senate on Thursday approved a bill to help the U.S. avoid a default on its debt in the next few weeks.
In the most consequential vote of the night, 11 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats to provide the minimum 60 votes needed to end debate and move the bill to final passage, which required a simple majority.
None of the Republicans who voted to end debate also then voted to pass the final bill. But for that, Democrats needed only 50 votes, because at least one Republican, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, was not present.
The U.S. risks economic calamity if Congress doesn’t raise or suspend the borrowing limit by Oct. 18, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned. Senators signed off on legislation Thursday that would keep the nation from reaching its debt limit until early December.
The agreement allows the debt limit to increase by $480 billion, a sum the Treasury Department estimates will allow it to pay bills until Dec. 3. The current national debt is about $28.4 trillion and would be permitted to rise to about $28.8 trillion.
The bill now moves to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to take up the legislation in the coming days.
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