Wisconsin’s delegation in the U.S. Senate was just as split as the governing body when they approved a bill to suspend the debt ceiling until early 2025 paired with other bipartisan concessions. The U.S. Senate approved the measure 62-36, with Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin siding with the majority and Republican Senator Ron Johnson voting with the minority. In addition to suspending the debt ceiling, the measure also keeps non-defense discretionary spending in 2024 level with this year and 1 percent more in 2025.

The House passed the bill on Wednesday by a 314-117 vote with District 8 Rep. Mike Gallagher voting in favor. Senator Johnson blasted the vote, saying that without a specific dollar amount that “no one can tell for sure how much additional borrowing will occur as a result.” On the flip side, Senator Baldwin applauded the vote, telling the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the compromise “ensures we will not default on our debt, crash our economy and raise costs for Wisconsin families.” With Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggesting the government will be out of money by June 5th, President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law immediately.

You can read Senator Ron Johnson’s statement below.

“The original bill passed by the House to increase the debt ceiling contained the bare minimum of spending restraint and policy improvements.  The original bill also increased the debt ceiling by a fixed dollar amount – $1.5 trillion. The Biden-McCarthy deal suspended the debt ceiling, and no one can tell for sure how much additional borrowing will occur as a result. Unfortunately, Democrats seem to have no problem mortgaging our children’s future and Republicans haven’t figured out a way to stop them. I’ve consistently voted against massive deficit spending, so I’ll let those who consistently support it vote to increase the debt ceiling to accommodate their recklessness.”

— Sen. Tammy Baldwin (@SenatorBaldwin) June 1, 2023