Biden: debt deal is ready to go to Congress – 05/28/2023 – Market

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday (28) that he finalized a budget deal with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to extend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. According to him, the agreement is ready to be sent to Congress for voting.

“I think it’s a really important step,” Biden told reporters during a brief White House remark following a call with McCarthy to finalize the deal. “It takes the threat of catastrophic default off the table, protects our hard-earned, historic economic recovery.”

After weeks of negotiations, McCarthy and Biden signed an interim agreement on Saturday night (27).

The deal will avoid a destabilizing default if it passes the divided Congress before the Treasury Department runs out of cash to cover all its obligations. The Treasury warned on Friday (26) that this would occur if the debt ceiling issue was not resolved by June 5.

“I strongly urge both houses to pass this deal,” Biden said, adding that he hoped McCarthy would have the necessary votes to pass the deal.

McCarthy predicted on Sunday that he would have the support of most of his fellow Republicans.

The deal has drawn criticism from radical Republicans and progressive Democrats, but Biden and McCarthy believe they have enough votes from moderates on both sides.

The deal would suspend the debt limit through January 2025, limit spending in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, recover unused funds during Covid-19, speed up the environmental licensing process for some energy projects, and include new requirements for food aid aimed at poor Americans.

Members of the hard-line Republican Freedom Caucus said they would try to stop the deal from passing the House in a vote scheduled for Wednesday.

“Let’s give it a try,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a prominent member of the Freedom Caucus, in a Sunday tweet.

But McCarthy dismissed threats from opposition within his own party, saying “more than 95%” of House Republicans were “extremely enthusiastic” about the deal.

“This is a good, strong bill that most Republicans will vote for,” the California congressman told reporters at the US Capitol. “You’re going to have Republicans and Democrats who are able to take this to the president.”

Republicans control the House 222 votes to 213, while Democrats control the Senate 51 to 49. Those narrow margins mean moderates on both sides will have to back the bill if the compromise loses far-left support. and the extreme right of each party.

“I’m not happy with some of the things I’m hearing,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he expected party support for the deal, but declined to estimate how many members of his party would vote for it, in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program.

Progressive Democrats in both houses said they would not support any deal that would place additional requirements on government food and health programs. Sources said this deal would add prerequisites to food aid for people up to age 54.

In an interview with Fox News, Democratic Representative Jim Himes said the deal’s relatively “small” scope could draw support from members of Biden’s party.