US lawmakers weigh deal on debt ceiling

Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives began considering legislation Tuesday to suspend the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling through early 2025 so the administration can borrow more money to keep paying. country bills.

White House officials welcomed the deal reached through tense negotiations that have brought the US to the brink of default before it runs out of money in the coming days.

“It was not an easy task to get here,” said Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who was part of the administration’s negotiating team. “But what was at stake for the American people is real. I know I breathe a little easier. I called my parents, I told them to breathe a little easier because an agreement had been reached.

Young, said: “We strongly urge both Houses to pass the bill and send it to the president’s desk.”

The President of the United States, the Democrat Joe Biden, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Republican Kevin McCarthy, who negotiated the debt ceiling agreement, are urging your approval and they say they think they have the necessary votes. But some Liberal Democrat lawmakers complain the deal cuts too much welfare spending, while conservative Republicans complain it cuts too little.

Rules Committee Vote

First up is a vote on Tuesday afternoon in the 13-member House Rules Committee, which usually sets the terms of full debate, such as whether amendments to any legislation can be offered. Passage by the panel, with nine Republicans and four Democrats, is normally just one procedural step to advance legislation favored by McCarthy to the 435-member House.

Two of McCarthy’s Republican appointees to the committee have already declared their opposition to the debt limit hike, which could herald a close panel count on moving forward, depending on how the four Democratic lawmakers vote. in the committee.

In a politically divided Washington, the four Democrats have generally refused to promote any measures favored by McCarthy and the Republicans, but in this case the proposal has the approval of the White House.

McCarthy said Monday that he was not concerned that the Rules Committee would kill off the bill.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress the measure must pass by June 5, at which time she says the government will run out of cash to pay its bills and sustain the country’s first default. Analysts say a default would lead to a cut in the country’s top-tier AAA credit rating, roil global stock markets and force the government to decide which bills to pay.

Assuming the House Rules Committee advances the legislation, McCarthy has set a full House vote for Wednesday, and the Senate plans to vote later in the week.

But some far-right Republicans roundly rejected any support for the deal, blaming McCarthy for agreeing with Biden on far fewer spending cuts than House Republicans had approved in debt-ceiling legislation setting their bills. priorities.

“No Republican should vote for this bill,” Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters outside the Capitol. “We will continue to fight today, tomorrow, and whatever happens, there will be a reckoning about what just happened unless we stop this bill for tomorrow.”

Another member of the group, Rep. Dan Bishop, said he believes McCarthy should be ousted from the presidency because of his role in the negotiations.

“I’m sick of the lies,” Bishop said. “I’m fed up with the lack of courage, with the cowardice,” she said. “No one could have done a worse job negotiating with the White House than McCarthy.”

The proposal includes waiving the existing borrowing limit through January 2025 and a two-year budget deal that holds federal spending steady in the fiscal year beginning in October and increases it by 1% over the next 12 months through 2025.

Other pieces of the compromise package include a reduction in the hiring of more agents at the nation’s tax collection agency, a requirement that states return $30 billion in unspent coronavirus pandemic assistance to the federal government, and extend the upper age group for those forced to work to receive food aid from 50 to 54 years.

“The agreement averts the worst possible crisis, a default, for the first time in our nation’s history,” Biden said at the White House on Sunday. “It takes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table.”

“The agreement represents a compromise, which means that not everyone gets what they want. But that is the responsibility of governing,” Biden said in a statement. He called the pact “an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for workers and growing the economy for all.”

McCarthy, discussing the deal on Capitol Hill, said: “At the end of the day, people can look together to get this passed.”

The Republican told the program Fox News Sunday that, from a Republican perspective, “there’s a lot about this that’s positive. It won’t do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction.”

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