House passes debt limit bill

The U.S. House Committee on Rules holds a hearing about the United States' debt ceiling.
The U.S. House Committee on Rules holds a hearing about the United States' debt ceiling.
Reuters

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a bipartisan debt limit bill to avoid a government default. And after all the drama, it wasn’t even that close: 314 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, while 117 opposed it. Interestingly, more Dems (165) backed the measure negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with the White House than Republicans (149).

It’ll now go to the Senate for a vote before Monday, when the US Treasury has warned that the government will run out of money to pay back its debt.

To be sure, many lawmakers – on both the right and left – didn’t get what they wanted. But while some progressive Dems spoke out against the bill’s provisions that they say benefit the wealthy and ramp up work requirements for recipients of food aid, they stopped short of criticizing the Biden administration, instead placing blame for the bill’s shortcomings squarely on the GOP.

Republicans, however, have been at loggerheads in recent days, with members of the far-right Freedom Caucus panning McCarthy for giving too much to the Dems, and at least one calling for his ousting. Indeed, it was a blow for the House speaker that he didn’t even have enough votes from within his own caucus to pass a procedural step earlier in the day needed to advance the bill. He had to rely on Dem votes to push it forward.

So what now? Markets will likely respond well to the news. But anti-McCarthy Republicans are seething and have warned of a “reckoning to come.”

More from GZERO Media

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference following a summit for the "coalition of the willing" at the Elysee Palace in Paris on March 27, 2025.

LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS

At the third summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a multinational “reassurance force” to deter Russian aggression once a ceasefire is in place – and to engage if attacked.

A group demonstrators chant slogans together as they hold posters during the protest. The ongoing protests were sparked by the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Sopa Images via Reuters

Last week’s arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu sparked the largest anti-government rallies in a decade and resulted in widespread arrests throughout Turkey. Nearly 1,900 people have been detained since the protests erupted eight days ago.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the then-nominee for US ambassador to the UN, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025.
Al Drago/Pool/Sipa USA

An internal GOP poll found a Republican candidate trailing in a special election for a conservative-leaning district in Florida, forcing US President Donald Trump to make a decision aimed at maintaining the Republican Party’s majority in the House.

South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, pictured here addressing the press in 2020.

REUTERS/Samir Bol

Alarm bells are ringing ever more loudly in South Sudan, as Vice President Riek Machar — chief rival to Prime Minister Salva Kiir — was arrested late Wednesday in an operation involving 20 armored vehicles at his compound in Juba. He was placed under house arrest, a move that is fueling fears that the country will soon descend into civil war.

Afghan Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, pictured here at the anniversary event of the departure of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 28, 2022.

REUTERS/Ali Khara

The Trump administration has dropped multimillion-dollar bounties on senior Afghan officials from the Haqqani network, a militant faction that carried out some of the deadliest attacks on American troops but has now positioned itself as a moderate wing within the Taliban government. But why?

The Canadian flag flies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

REUTERS/Blair Gable

Canada’s foreign interference watchdog is warning that China, India, and Russia plan on meddling in the country’s federal election. The contest, which launched last weekend, has already been marked by a handful of stories about past covert foreign interventions and threats of new ones.

The BMW Foundation is dedicated to addressing concrete challenges that, when solved, create the greatest global impact. With the first challenge, “International Collaboration to Develop Energy Transition and Infrastructure Solutions,” the foundation aims to facilitate international collaboration that accelerates the net-zero transition. Access to reliable and affordable energy powers industries and businesses. Technology is one of the most important drivers for a successful transition, but it is international collaboration that will leapfrog societies across the globe. Find out how the BMW Foundation helps drive collaboration and solutions toward a clean and secure energy future here.