Debt Ceiling Squeaks Through House; $6.4 Trillion Limit Passes at Last Minute by 1-Vote Margin
The House narrowly voted to raise the ceiling on the national debt by $450 billion late yesterday, just hours before the government was due to bump up against its borrowing limits.</br></br>The nearly straight party-line tally of 215 to 214 came after a rousing debate in which Democrats blamed President Bush's 2001 tax cut for the return of deficits and Republicans blasted Democrats for big spending. Both sides agreed the clash provided a warm-up for an election-year argument over the management of the economy.</br></br>Without the action, Bush administration officials warned, the government could have reached the limits of its borrowing authority this weekend. Jitters in the U.S. bond market were dramatized when Moody's Investors Service warned it might lower the credit rating on some U.S. government debt unless Congress acted, according to Bloomberg News.</br></br>With the possibility that Congress would adjourn for its 10-day Fourth of July recess without acting, Treasury Department officials hustled throughout the day to come up with fiscal maneuvers that could provide some breathing room until next month.</br></br>The Democratic-controlled Senate earlier approved an identical increase, raising the limit to $6.4 trillion. In the House, however, GOP leaders faced opposition to the action by fiscal conservatives in their own party, and from a Democratic bloc eager to highlight the return to government borrowing under a Republican president.