The bipartisan debt ceiling bill, which President Joe Biden (D) signed into law on Saturday, passed the Senate Thursday with 63 affirmative votes, but it drew a lot of Republican opposition, including from members representing Department of Energy weapons complex states.
Senators who voted no included Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio.
Based on their websites and home-state news coverage, it appears most opposed the deal negotiated between Biden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) either because they believed it did not do enough to control federal spending, or did not ensure sufficient defense spending.
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) did not vote on the proposal in order to return home to see his son’s high school graduation, according to published reports.
The House passed the compromise debt measure 314-to-117.
Some notable House Republicans Appropriators who voted in favor of the debt ceiling measure include Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district includes the DOE’s Hanford Site; Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) whose district includes the Idaho National Laboratory and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Energy and Water subcommittee and represents the Oak Ridge Site.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee who supports the Savannah River Site also voted in favor of the measure.
The “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023” would cap defense discretionary spending roughly at Biden’s requested level of about $886 billion. That category includes the Department of Energy’s defense nuclear programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Office of Environmental Management.
