Full List of Republican Senators Who Voted Against Debt-Ceiling Deal

US News Reporter

The debt-ceiling deal negotiated by President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was passed by the Senate on Thursday with 63 votes to 36, averting a federal default that could have had catastrophic consequences for the U.S. economy.

The vote was held just days before the fiscal deadline indicated by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as the day when the country would not have had enough cash to pay for the government's debt. Despite this, there was still fierce opposition to the deal, especially among Republicans.

While a bipartisan coalition came together to pass through the bill, exactly as it happened in the House the night before, five Democrats and 31 Republicans still voted against the deal.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) walks to a Senate Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on June 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C. The Senate passed the debt-ceiling bill on Thursday night with a bipartisan... Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The deal, which would suspend the debt-ceiling limit until after the next presidential election, has been purposefully structured as a compromise that would allow both Republicans and Democrats to claim a victory.

On one side, Republicans have achieved the federal spending cuts they asked for. On the other, Democrats will be able to say that they have managed to save most domestic programs from significant cuts.

But, as with any compromise, the deal left many unhappy—especially among progressive Democrats and Republican hardliners.

The backlash against the deal by members of the Freedom Caucus and other hard-right Republicans has revealed the depth of the fracture still existing within the GOP, months after McCarthy struggled to obtain support from Republican hardliners in his bid to become House speaker.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Ohio, who voted against the bill after saying that it didn't go far enough to cut federal spending, said after it was passed by the upper chamber: "The Senate has passed a farce."

Ahead of the vote, Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who also opposed the bill on Thursday, told Fox News that the bill "doesn't address the biggest issue of the country, inflation." He said that it wasn't McCarthy's fault as he "worked very hard with a president who didn't want to negotiate at all."

In a statement released on Thursday, he said he voted "no today because this legislation will only bury us deeper in debt."

After voting against the bill, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted: "Reckless spending got us into this mess, and this debt-limit deal missed the mark to curb Washington's habits."

He added: "We simply didn't get enough in return for the new debt we'll incur as a result of this deal."

The deal will now head to President Biden's desk.

Newsweek has provided a full list of the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against the deal below.