U.S. Congress averts default with stop-gap debt limit hike

The Republicans dropped their blockade in the Senate

U.S. lawmakers rubber-stamped a short-term bill to lift the nation’s borrowing authority on Tuesday, averting the threat of a first-ever debt default — but only for a few weeks.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to pass the stop-gap $480 billion hike, which advanced from the Senate last Thursday. “It’s about the kitchen table, it’s about our economy, the global economy, but it’s also about our Constitution which says the full faith and credit of the United States shall not be in doubt,” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters ahead of the vote.

Democratic leaders had spent weeks underlining the havoc that a default would have wrought, including the loss of six million jobs and $15 trillion in household wealth, as well as increased costs for mortgages.