House Passes Key Hurdle Ahead of Final Vote to Raise Debt Limit

The House advanced the bill package to raise the debt ceiling, setting up the final floor vote on the measure to take place Wednesday night.

The rule passed 241 to 187. Fifty-two Democrats joined the majority of Republicans in voting for it. Twenty-nine Republicans opposed it.

Some uncertainty had lingered over whether the rule would pass after Democrat leaders revealed they were whipping their members to vote no on it, despite supporting the final passage of the bill.

“The majority is responsible for passing the rule,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said Wednesday morning.

Roughly four dozen Republicans or more appear poised to vote against the final bill, and many of those anticipated no-votes also voted against the rule, resulting in Democrats having to make up enough votes to achieve a majority.

“We didn’t have an opportunity to offer amendments to help put some fixes toward the bill, so this is really the only way to keep it from moving forward,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), a Freedom Caucus member who opposes the bill, told Breitbart News of his vote against the rule.

The bill, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act, is expected to pass in bipartisan fashion, but opposition from both parties has left open questions about where the final split will land and if House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) can win over a majority of the conference’s support for it.

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) voted for the rule despite being against the bill, which would raise the debt limit through January 2025 while implementing some, but not all, of Republicans’ desired concessions.

Hageman told Breitbart News her constituents do not support the bill and made a veiled jab at Wyoming’s former congresswoman, Liz Cheney.

“We’ve gone six years without having a representative for Wyoming, and I want to make sure that I’m listening to my constituents,” Hageman said.

Asked why she still supported advancing the rule, Hageman said, “Because then we can vote on the bill. People need to vote on the bill.”

The final vote is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.