The following Republicans voted no on raising the debt ceiling:
Kelly Ayotte (NH), Dan Coats (IN), Saxby Chambliss (GA), Tom Coburn (OK), Jim DeMint (SC), Lindsay Graham (SC), Chuck Grassley (IA), Orrin Hatch (UT), James Inhofe (OK), Ron Johnson (WI), Dean Heller (NV), Mike Lee (UT), Jerry Moran (KS), Rand Paul (KY), Marco Rubio (FL), Jeff Sessions (AL), Richard Shelby (AL), Pat Toomey (PA), David Vitter (LA)
The following Democrats (including an independent) voted no on raising the debt ceiling:
Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Tom Harkin (IA), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Bob Menendez (NJ), Ben Nelson (NE),
Bernie Sanders (VT)
I don’t really consider there to be a right or wrong position on this vote. The debt ceiling had to be raised. Anyone who cast a deciding vote against it would be irresponsible. Since it passed easily, members were free to cast a protest vote. In an inverse of what happened in the House, a higher percentage of Republicans cast protest votes than Democrats. I don’t really care how people voted. It’s irrelevant. If you want to protest, that’s fine with me. If you want to help avert a global meltdown, that’s cool, too.
Now we move on to analyzing the bill.
