The House voted 221 to 209 early Wednesday morning to increase the federal borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, a measure that will allow the government to avoid default until early 2023.
That measure passed the Senate Tuesday afternoon, 50-49, paving the way for the House vote.
All Democrats in both the Senate and House voted to raise the debt limit. One Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, from Illinois, joined them.
The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Once signed by the president, the legislation will have prevented a U.S. default that could have halted Social Security and veterans’ payments, hiked interest on mortgages and loans and disrupted the global economy.
In mid-November, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen already urged Congress to raise the federal government’s debt limit by Dec. 15 to avoid a potential default.
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