Debt ceiling vote today: Deal struck between Joe Biden and McCarthy expected to go to full House vote today

White House budget director Shalanda Young, who is one of President Biden’s top negotiators, urged Congress to pass the bill.

“I want to be clear: This agreement represents a compromise, which means nobody gets everything they want and has to make tough choices,” Ms Young told a news conference.

A vote in the Senate could be reached by the end of the week if lawmakers in that chamber try to slow its passage.

At least one senator, Republican Mike Lee, has said he might try to do so, and other Republicans have also expressed discomfort with some aspects of the deal.

The bill would suspend the US debt limit until 1 January 2025, allowing Mr Biden and lawmakers to sidestep the politically dangerous issue until after the November 2024 presidential election.

It will also provide some government spending over the next two years, speed up the approval process for some energy projects, recover unused Covid-19 funding, and introduce work requirements for food assistance programs for some poor Americans.

In another win for Republicans, it will divert some funding from the Internal Revenue Service, although the White House has said there is no need to lower tax enforcement.

Biden can also focus on victories. The deal leaves his signature infrastructure and green energy laws largely intact and the spending cuts and job requirements are much smaller than what Republicans had sought.

Republicans argue that drastic spending cuts are needed to curb the growth of the national debt, which at $31.4 trillion is roughly equal to the annual output of the economy.

Interest payments on that debt are expected to eat up a growing share of the budget as an aging population pushes up health and retirement costs, according to government forecasts. The agreement does nothing to stop the fast-growing programs.

Most of the savings will come by capping spending on domestic programs such as housing, education, scientific research and other forms of “discretionary” spending. Military spending will be allowed to increase over the next two years.

The debt-ceiling freeze prompted rating agencies to warn they could downgrade US debt, which underpins the global financial system.

The bipartisan agreement to raise the $31.4trn US debt forged by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to be voted on by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The bill, which would also implement new federal spending cuts, cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when the House Rules Committee voted 7-6 to approve the rules, allowing full debate. room.

The narrowness of that outcome, which saw two Republicans break ranks to oppose it, underscored the need for Democrats to help pass the measure in the House, where Republicans have a slim majority. 222 to 213.

Passing the House will send the bill to the Senate, which will require congressional approval before Monday 5 June, when the Department of the Treasury may run out of funds to pay its debts for the first time in American history.

Mr Biden and Mr McCarthy have expressed confidence they can get enough votes to pass the 99-page bill before the deadline but, if they fail, the Treasury could default on its payments, or be forced to prioritize, which can prompt. economic turmoil.

The non-partisan budget scorekeeper for Congress on Tuesday said the legislation would cut spending from current projections by $1.5 trillion over 10 years starting in 2024.

The Congressional Budget Office also said the measure, if enacted, would reduce the interest on the public debt by $188 billion.

Mr McCarthy called the bill “the most conservative deal we’ve ever had.”

However, some of the most conservative House Republicans seeking deeper spending cuts are unconvinced and it is unclear how many Democrats Mr McCarthy needs to win Wednesday’s expected passage vote.

All four Democrats on the Rules Committee voted against the bill, as they often do with Republican-backed legislation. It was unclear whether he could influence other Democrats to do the same on Wednesday, even as Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party would give Mr McCarthy the support he needed.

Many Democrats in Congress do not want Mr. Biden to participate in budget-cutting negotiations with Republicans until they loosen their grip on the creation of a debt limit bill.