In a 221-201 vote, House Republicans caved and passed a clean debt ceiling resolution yesterday. The vote allows President Obama’s and the Democrats to increase the government’s borrowing cap without any concessions from the White House. See a list of the 28 Republicans who voted ‘yay’ HERE.
While Senate leaders sought to eliminate the chance of a filibuster of the House-passed bill by allowing for a simple majority to approve the suspension of the debt limit until March 2015, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) refused to grant his consent. That forced a cloture vote. Unsurprisingly, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) sided with Democrats, and 10 more Republicans followed suit:
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Sen. McConnell’s challenger in Kentucky, Matt Bevin, joined Glenn on radio this morning to discuss the vote. Glenn first asked Bevin to describe the mood among Kentucky voters following Sen. McConnell’s maneuvering.
“There's a tremendous degree of disappointment and just plain confusion,” Bevin said. “He's a man who not only is out of touch with us, not only has done these types of things before, but had given us some hope that perhaps he might be seeing the light, if for no other reason than the fact that he was running for re-election in a tight race. But no, he just doesn't seem to care. And people are about fed up with it. They really are.”
Given the complicated nature of the debt ceiling and the potential impact on the 2014 elections, Glenn played devil’s advocate and explained what probably when down in the cloak rooms of the Capitol Building yesterday.
“Let me play devil's advocate because this is how it went down in the cloakroom,” Glenn said. “I can guarantee: The President… will use this. There won't be spending and this whole thing will be pinned on us and it will look bad for the Republicans. You want to lose the Senate again? We have a chance of winning. We just have to be smart about it.”
“I'd be willing to risk losing the Senate, if we could keep America. I really would,” Bevin said. “I'm a guy who is willing to lead. I'm a former active duty Army officer. I understand a little about leadership by example, and I am willing to be such a person. There's no perfect person, there's no one person who has all the answers, but our country is hungry for men and women who have the fortitude to step up and do the will of the people… This isn't about the nonsense that happens inside the beltway. It is about representing the will of the people, and I will be a person who does everything within my power to do exactly that.”
You can learn more about Bevin’s campaign HERE.
Watch the entire interview below:
Front page image courtesy of the AP