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Debt Ceiling Calamity VI - This Time It's Personal (Thanks Georgia, Biden's not agenda)

Debt ceiling deal reached in Congress, party leaders say - The Washington Post - "Agreement would require cooperation from 10 Senate Republicans"
The arrangement would first see Congress pass a measure that allows Democrats to raise the debt ceiling just once using a simple majority in the Senate. At least 10 Republicans in the chamber would have to support that bill for it to prevail. Then, Democrats alone could forge ahead with the actual increase to the debt ceiling, which GOP lawmakers could oppose without risking an economic crisis.
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What a mess.
 
House passes workaround to move forward on raising the debt ceiling - POLITICO - "The vote creates a path for Congress to prevent the government from defaulting on more than $29 trillion in debt."

The vote was 222-212, and I couldn't find anything that looks like it in Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
Under the plan, at least 10 Senate Republicans would vote to allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling with a simple majority. The Senate could start voting to allow this process Thursday, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s “confident” the plan has enough GOP support.

But both chambers would need to actually hike the debt limit in a separate vote — one that could take until early next week to clear both the House and Senate.
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I finally found the bill. It is S.610 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
This bill makes several budgetary, technical, and procedural changes, particularly in relation to Medicare and increasing the debt limit.

Specifically, the bill continues to exempt Medicare from sequestration until March 31, 2022. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.)

The bill also establishes expedited Senate procedures for considering legislation to increase the debt limit. The procedures limit debate, waive points of order, and prohibit amendments. The procedures may only be used once and expire after January 16, 2022.

Additionally, the bill (1) temporarily extends other provisions under Medicare, including a payment increase under the physician fee schedule; and (2) requires any debits recorded for FY2022 on the statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) scorecards to be deducted from the scorecards for 2022 and added to the scorecards for 2023.
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In effect, it revokes the filibuster for raising the debt ceiling.

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives - Vote Details
Roll Call 404 | Bill Number: S. 610
Vote Question: On Passage
Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act
Vote Type: Yea-And-Nay
Status: Passed

D: Y 221
R: Y 1, N 212
Adam Kinzinger was the only Republican to vote for it

U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session
Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to S. 610 )
Vote Number: 490
Vote Date: December 9, 2021, 12:31 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5
Vote Result: Cloture Motion Agreed to
Measure Number: S. 610 (Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act )
Measure Title: A bill to address behavioral health and well-being among health care professionals.

The vote: Y: 64, N: 36
Every Democrat and Independent votes yes on it, and they were joined by these 14 Republicans: Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Burr (R-NC), Capito (R-WV), Collins (R-ME), Cornyn (R-TX), Ernst (R-IA), McConnell (R-KY), Murkowski (R-AK), Portman (R-OH), Romney (R-UT), Thune (R-SD), Tillis (R-NC), Wicker (R-MS)
 
McConnell and Schumer are using parliamentary maneuvers to let Senate Democrats raise the debt ceiling. - The Washington Post
The deal amounts to a one-time, temporary ban on filibustering a resolution to raise the debt limit. To do that, they’re using a decades-old Senate practice: Enact a law that allows expedited treatment of another bill, protecting the latter from a filibuster.

The contemporary Senate occasionally uses these fast-track, filibuster-proof procedures. Past versions have done such things as expediting resolutions related to war powers, weapons sales, trade agreements and emergency declarations. This particular agreement is time-limited, which makes it unusual, and is more like the way the House routinely handles difficult floor votes: By majority vote, the House typically adopts a “special rule” that dictates how and when the House will debate, amend and vote on a pending measure.

Here’s what these special agreements have in common: Even minority-party senators are periodically willing to temporarily set aside their chamber’s supermajority rules to enable the majority party to pass urgent measures — while keeping their own hands out of it.
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Seems that there were enough Republicans willing to vote for raising the debt ceiling in an indirect fashion, by revoking the filibuster on it, so that the Democrats could pass it without any Republicans' votes.
 
Debt Limit Split Shows Pragmatic Republicans Are Dwindling - The New York Times - "Fearing backlash from the right, most in the party dug in against a bipartisan deal needed to stave off a federal default."
When 14 Senate Republicans joined forces with Democrats on Thursday to pave the way for Congress to avert a first-ever federal default, it reflected the crucial role of the pragmatic wing of the G.O.P. in a divided government. But it also showed how narrow that wing has become, and how willing the majority of Republicans were to use potential fiscal catastrophe as an opening to pummel President Biden and his party.
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lpetrich said:
Debt Limit Split Shows Pragmatic Republicans Are Dwindling - The New York Times - "Fearing backlash from the right, most in the party dug in against a bipartisan deal needed to stave off a federal default."
When 14 Senate Republicans joined forces with Democrats on Thursday to pave the way for Congress to avert a first-ever federal default, it reflected the crucial role of the pragmatic wing of the G.O.P. in a divided government. But it also showed how narrow that wing has become, and how willing the majority of Republicans were to use potential fiscal catastrophe as an opening to pummel President Biden and his party.
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Pragmatic seems an interesting way to say "full of shit".
 
S.610 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress -- that's what revoked the filibuster for that debt-ceiling bill. President Biden signed it soon after he got it from the Senate.

S.J.Res.33 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): A joint resolution joint resolution relating to increasing the debt limit. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

It bumps the debt limit up by $2.5 trillion.

The Senate vote:
U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session - Vote 498 - Bill: S.J. Res 33
D: Y 48
I: Y 2
R: N 49 nv 1
Every Democrat and Independent voted for it, and every Republican who voted on it voted against it.

The House vote:
Dec 15, 2021, 12:20 AM | 117th Congress, 1st Session - Roll Call 449 | Bill Number: S. J. Res. 33
D: Y 220, nv 1
R: Y 1, N 209, nv 3
The vote was almost completely by party line, and Adam Kinzinger IL is the only Republican who voted for it.
 
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Senate gives final OK to $1.5T government funding bill - POLITICO - "The package finally cements the fresh budgets Democrats have sought since former President Donald Trump left office."
The Senate passed a $1.5 trillion package Thursday night that funds the federal government through September and delivers $14 billion to help Ukraine, clearing the bill for President Joe Biden’s signature.

The package finally cements the fresh budgets Democrats have sought since former President Donald Trump left office and ends the string of spending patches that has kept federal agencies running on static funding levels since the new fiscal year kicked off in October.

Leaders in both parties have declared the legislation a win. Democrats boast of the almost 7 percent increase they secured for non-defense agencies, increasing that funding to $730 billion. Top Republicans tout the $782 billion they locked in for national defense, a 6 percent hike from current spending.
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Not long before,
House Dems clear $1.5T spending deal after stripping Covid aid - POLITICO
 
Here is that bill: H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

For months, Republicans refused to engage in negotiations unless Democrats buckled to their demands on controversial policy issues, like the Hyde amendment ban on federal funding for abortions. Democratic leaders largely agreed to those conditions in the end, including the abortion funding moratorium.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled he was satisfied that the bill raised defense and non-defense spending at similar amounts and did not scrap old GOP riders or add new Democratic ones.
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I checked, and the Hyde Amendment was still in it.

Some conservative Republicans wanted an assessment of how the budget would affect inflation.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), though he called the bill a “terrible awful piece of crap,” said there wasn’t much he could do to stop it, other than requesting that Ukraine aid was paid for and voting no
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Then,
After the House’s last-minute tweak to the bill, Democratic leaders plan to work next week on another route to deliver the Biden administration more than $15 billion in extra funding for pandemic efforts, like moving forward on new Covid treatments, researching emerging variants and expanding vaccine manufacturing.
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I checked on U.S. Senate: Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session (2022) and I found these amendments:


S.Amdt.4989 to H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022) | Congress.gov | Library of Congress by Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] - "To prohibit funding for COVID-19 vaccine mandates."

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote #75/url]
D+I: N 50
R: Y 49, nv 1
Ttl: ^ 49, N 50, nv 1
Failed

[url=https://www.congress.gov/amendment/117th-congress/senate-amendment/4990]S.Amdt.4990 to H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022) | Congress.gov | Library of Congress by Sen. Braun, Mike [R-IN] - "To prohibit funds from being used for earmarks."

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote #76
D+I: Y 1, N 49
R: Y 34, N 15, nv 1
Ttl: Y 35, N 64, nv 1
Failed

S.Amdt.4983 to H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022) | Congress.gov | Library of Congress by Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] - "To provide emergency assistance for disaster response and recovery, and for other expenses, directly related to Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Ida and to provide assistance for the Port Infrastructure Development Program."

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote #77
D+I: Y 5, N 45
R: Y 30, N 19, nv 1
Ttl: Y 35, N 64, nv 1
Failed
 
S.1104 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress by Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
This bill revises reporting and strategy requirements related to recovery and assistance efforts for Haiti.

Specifically, the bill repeals existing reporting and strategy requirements related to earthquake recovery and economic assistance for Haiti. Further, the bill directs the Department of State to undertake specific initiatives that prioritize and assess the protection and preservation of human rights, the promotion of press and assembly freedoms and the protection of journalists, anticorruption efforts, and a strategy of post-disaster and post-pandemic recovery and development efforts.

The State Department must also submit a report concerning the July 7, 2021, assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
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This bill was apparently folded into the big budget bill.

U.S. Senate: Roll Call Vote #78
D+I: Y 50
R: Y 18, N 31, nv 1
Ttl: Y 68, N 31, nv
Passed
 
Since this bill is not quite ready to go, there was a danger of a government shutdown. But Congress agreed to a stopgap resolution to keep it going until next week, as I write this.

H.J.Res.75 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2022 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress by Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L. [D-CT-3]

"This joint resolution provides continuing FY2022 appropriations to federal agencies through March 15, 2022. It is known as a continuing resolution (CR) and prevents a government shutdown that would otherwise occur if the FY2022 appropriations bills have not been enacted when the existing CR expires on March 11, 2022."

So the last day of funded operations would have been yesterday, as I write this, but funded operations are being extended to the upcoming Tuesday.

It was passed by voice vote in both chambers.

President Biden signed it into law yesterday.
Bill Signed: H.J. Res. 75 | The White House
 
The Senate had a cloture vote before proceeding with that bill.
D+I: Y 47, nv 3
R: Y 18, N 30, nv 2
Ttl: Y 65, N 30, nv 5

The latest on it - Actions - H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

After Senate vote #78 on Thursday, March 10, the Senate notified the House on March 11, the House presented the bill to President Biden on March 14, and the President signed the bill on March 15.

Remarks by President Biden at Signing of H.R. 2471, "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022" | The White House
After saying that the bill was a bipartisan success,

"This bill also includes historic funding — $13.6 billion — to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact on surrounding countries."

Then going into a LOT of detail about that.
Let me just mention a couple of highlights, starting with community safety. We know what works to make our communities safer, and that’s investing in prevention and community police officers so that they can walk the streets, know the neighborhoods, and who can help restore trust and safety in the communities.

The answer is not to abandon our streets or to choose between safety and equal justice. It’s in funding — it’s in this funding bill, which we make sure we do both.

...
Community violence interruption programs are programs where trusted community members work directly with the people who are most likely to commit or become victims of gun crimes. I had a chance to meet with those leaders in one of the programs in New York City not long ago. I saw the difference they were making every day.

We know these programs can dramatically reduce violence, and we’re going to fund a lot more of them.

This bill also includes grants for state and local law enforcement and crime prevention programs. We’re talking about drug treatment programs, school violence prevention programs, programs where people who might end up in prison and instead get mandatory mental healthcare that they need. Part of the saf- — before any crime was committed.
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Then,

"Today, with this bill, we reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act. For example — (applause)."

"This bill supports opioid response grants that are funding that we provide to states to support opioid prevent — opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery services."

"ARPA-H will have a singular purpose: to drive breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, and other diseases."

So let me close with this: Today, we’re again showing the American people that, as a country, we can come together as Democrats, Republicans, and independents and do big things; that our democracy can deliver — can deliver — and outperform autocracies; and that there’s nothing we can’t do when we do it together as the United States of America.

So I’d like to now invite up my Budget Director, Shalanda Young, and all the members of the Congress here today while we sign this bipartisan government funding bill.
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Fact Sheet: Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) | The White House

Remarks by President Biden on the Assistance the United States is Providing to Ukraine | The White House

Remarks by President Biden Celebrating the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act | The White House
 
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