WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress buried the specter of a debt default by finally passing a deficit-cutting package on Tuesday, but the shadow lingered of a possible painful downgrade of the top-notch American credit rating.
Just hours before the Treasury’s authority to borrow funds ran out, the Senate voted 74 to 26 to pass a hard-won compromise to lift the government’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling enough to last beyond the November 2012 elections.
President Barack Obama, who will seek a second term next year, was expected to immediately sign the deal into law, although without any White House ceremony.
His signature would draw the line under months of bitter partisan squabbling over debt and deficit strategy that had threatened chaos in global financial markets and dented America’s stature as the world’s economic superpower.
There was little suspense about the outcome of the vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
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