Senate rejects Democratic plan to settle debt-limit debacle

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Senate plunged on Sunday into what many lawmakers and the White House — and millions of Americans coast to coast — hoped would be an all-but-decisive last-minute effort to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and defuse a crisis that still could lead to an unprecedented government default.

As senators began debate in a rare Sunday session — just hours after Saturday night’s concluded — Democratic leader Harry Reid said he was “cautiously optimistic” agreement could be reached.

But first, in a partisan vote, the Senate rejected an effort to advance a Democratic approach to resolving the debt issue. The vote was 50-49, or 10 short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on legislation proposed by Reid that would have carried out $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years while raising the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion. The outcome of that vote did not directly affect the behind-the-scenes negotiations on a compromise.

Immediately afterward, Reid told fellow senators that while they were “not there yet,” a vote on a possible compromise could still happen Sunday. “We are hopeful and confident it can be done.”