The U.S. House has passed its version of a bill to raise the debt ceiling. The final vote was 218 to 210. 22 Republicans voted against it, and no Democrats voted in favor of the plan.
Here are the Republicans who voted against the bill (Freshman members are in bold): Amash (MI), Bachmann (MN), Broun (GA), Chaffetz (UT), Cravaack (MN), DesJarlais (TN), Duncan (SC), Graves (GA), Gowdy (SC), Huelskamp (KS), Johnson (IL), Jordan (OH), King (IA), Latham (IA), Connie Mack (FL), McClintock (CA), Mulvaney (SC), Ron Paul (TX), Tim Scott (SC), Southerland (FL), Walsh (IL), Wilson (SC).
The Senate voted 59-41 to table, or discard, the House bill, after which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brought up his version of a debt ceiling bill, which lasts through 2012 and cuts $2.2 billion in spending. 6 Republicans joined 51 Democrats and two Independents to table the Boehner plan. Republicans voting to table were: DeMint (SC), Graham (SC), Hatch (UT), Lee (UT), Paul (KY), and Vitter (LA).
This was the third version of a debt plan House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) produced this week in an attempt to garner enough Republican votes to pass it.
In remarks this morning, President Obama said Mr. Boehner's bill "does not solve the problem." The President pointedly called out Speaker Boehner's efforts to appease members of the Tea Party. "What’s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan. It must have the support of both parties that were sent here to represent the American people -– not just one faction," he said.
Today's sequence of events came after the House was minutes away Thursday evening from voting to lift the debt ceiling and cut $900 billion in spending. But Republican leaders pulled the bill from the floor after Speaker Boehner spent the evening attempting to finalize support for his bill but fell short.
The road to lifting the debt ceiling has been rocky. Negotiations between a bipartisan group of lawmakers and Vice President Biden failed. So did talks between the President and Speaker Boehner, as did subsequent talks between the President and Congressional leaders.
No agreement between Republicans and Democrats and the House and Senate means the path forward is still uncertain with the August 2nd deadline imposed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner fast approaching.
House Democrats encouraged the President to invoke the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to unilaterally lift the debt ceiling without Congressional authorization. The White House continues to reject that option.