The House on Wednesday had the votes to authorize nearly $8 billion in aid funding to respond to Hurricane Harvey as voting continued. Once final, the House, for now, avoids a politically contentious link to raising the debt ceiling, but the bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to pair the measures. If the Senate passes the bill, it will head back to the House later in the week for final passage. Pairing the often messy debt limit increase with the largely uncontroversial aid package boosts its chances of passing in a Republican-controlled Congress. Lawmakers face an end of September deadline to increase ... (full story)