Congress

Senate lawmakers voted to approve a short-term increase to the federal debt ceiling on Thursday night, ending a weekslong standoff on Capitol Hill and averting a default that could have triggered a recession.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. and  Agilent Technologies Inc. will see their tax rates increase by a fifth under the sweeping tax bill proposed by congressional Democrats, but for different reasons.

Some Republican lawmakers are unhappy with the debt-ceiling deal that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck with Democrats to temporarily pull the U.S. government back from the brink of a catastrophic default.

The Senate is set this week to temporarily avert a debt ceiling default, but the fundamental impasse between Republicans and Democrats remains and might rear its head later this year.

Democrats reached a deal to narrow the scope of a plan from the Biden administration that could force banks to turn over customers' account information to the Internal Revenue Service.

Lawmakers in Washington are working to pass a debt limit suspension before government funding runs out, which could happen as soon as Oct. 18, according to Treasury estimates.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., refused to sign a letter to condemn the actions of left-wing activists who confronted Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in a public bathroom because the statement did not criticize her “political views,” a report late Wednesday said.

One Wisconsin school district built a new football field. In Iowa, a high school weight room is getting a renovation. Another in Kentucky is replacing two outdoor tracks — all of this funded by the billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief Congress sent to schools this year.

Senate Democrats indicated Wednesday that they planned to accept Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s offer for a short-term suspension of the debt ceiling, with some claiming the Kentucky Republican had “caved” following a tense standoff on Capitol Hill.

President Biden ripped into Senate Republicans on Wednesday for their "dangerous and disgraceful" blockade of a debt ceiling suspension, shortly before Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced a compromise deal in order to avoid the first-ever default this month.

Republicans are signaling they could help speed along some of the procedural hurdles included in budget reconciliation if Democrats cave and opt to raise the debt ceiling that way.