Senate Passes Debt Deal

No surprises as bill goes to Obama for his signature
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 2, 2011 11:46 AM CDT
Senate Passes Bill to Raise Debt Ceiling, Sends It to President Obama
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks to the media on Monday.   (Getty Images)

Just one more step to go now: The Senate passed the debt ceiling bill this afternoon as expected and sent it along to President Obama for his quick signature, reports MSNBC. The legislation, which passed 74-26, allows the ceiling to be raised just ahead of the midnight default deadline. It calls for more than $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade and establishes a bipartisan committee to find future cuts. The markets aren't exactly overwhelmed: The Dow was down about 100 points at mid-day after weak data on consumer spending, notes MarketWatch. (More Senate stories.)

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