The White House applauded House passage of a clean debt-ceiling bill Tuesday night as a positive step away from the “political brinkmanship” that has dominated Washington in the recent past.
However, White House press secretary Jay Carney urged Congress to pass a pair of other measures to help the middle class — including raising the minimum wage and restoring long-term unemployment insurance for those out of work.
{mosads}“Tonight’s vote is a positive step in moving away from the political brinkmanship that’s a needless drag on our economy,” Carney said in a statement Tuesday night.
Carney added: “The American economy is moving forward, but there is much more to do to ensure that more middle class Americans — and those striving to get into it — can get ahead.”
President Obama is slated Wednesday to sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for future government contractors, a move he outlined in his State of the Union address last month.
The House late Tuesday passed the bill that suspends the debt limit until March of next year on a 221-201 vote. Democrats largely supported the bill, while 28 Republicans crossed over as well.
The vote came after GOP leaders decided they did not have the Republican votes on a proposal to tie the restoration of military pension cuts to the debt ceiling. The House passed a stand-alone bill restoring the pension cuts earlier in the day.
The White House and Democrats had pushed for a clean bill. The Senate is expected to take up the measure Wednesday after voting on a number of executive nominations.