WASHINGTON -- Putting off a potential showdown with President Barack Obama, the House Wednesday voted to suspend the statutory borrowing limit through May 18 without the comparable spending cuts Republicans previously demanded. The bill, instead, would dock the pay of members in either the House or Senate if that body doesn't adopt a budget by April 15th. It passed...
WASHINGTON -- Putting off a potential showdown with President Barack Obama, the House Wednesday voted to suspend the statutory borrowing limit through May 18 without the comparable spending cuts Republicans previously demanded. The bill, instead, would dock the pay of members in either the House or Senate if that body doesn't adopt a budget by April 15th.
Reps. Cedric Richmond, left, and Steve Scalise
It passed 285-144, with all five Louisiana Republicans voting in favor of the measure.
"Today's vote is the first step towards getting Washington back on the path to responsible and balanced budgets that will produce economic growth and jobs," said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson who joined all five Louisiana Republicans in supporting the measure. "The American people deserve and demand the fiscal transparency that comes with the normal budget process, and I look forward to the debate we'll have once the Senate decides to do its job and finally pass a budget."
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, the delegation's only Democrat, opposed the bill because it failed to provide long-term guarantees that the United States would have the means to pay its bills -- something he says businesses want as they consider long-term investments.
"It is time for the House majority to stop playing politics with the American and global economy," Richmond said. "The bill we voted on today ensures more drawn out fights ahead. We must instead pass legislation which resolves this debt limit issue for the long term. That is the only way to give businesses and citizens the certainty they need."
The legislation, which is expected to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Barack Obama, provides for an automatic increase in the current $16.4 trillion debt limit through May 18.
The Treasury Department hit the limit of its borrowing authority at the end of December and is currently using "extraordinary measures" to finance government operations -- but needs an increase in its borrowing authority by mid- to late-February to avoid default.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said the requirement that the Senate pass a budget by April 15 -- with a penalty of lost pay, is important.
"We can only get our fiscal house in order if we prioritize, on paper, what we will spend taxpayer money on and how much," Cassidy said. "Just like Louisiana families do. Since Republicans took control, the House of Representatives has passed two budgets. Meanwhile, the last time the Senate passed a budget, Apple's iPad hadn't even been invented."