Republicans and Democrats vow to support debt ceiling 'compromise'
The US House of Representatives is due to vote on Wednesday on a bill to lift the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilizing default that could come early next week without congressional action.
Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, but the bipartisan deal will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Republicans and President Joe Biden's Democrats to pass, as members of both parties object to significant parts of the bill.
Members from both parties voiced grudging approval for the deal as the House debated the bill.
“The reality is the bill we're dealing with… is a compromise between House republicans and the president of the United States,” Republican Tom Cole said. “In that compromise, nobody got everything they wanted.”
Democrat Steve Cohen from Tennessee said that Republicans had brought the country “to the brink” to hurt President Biden.
“This is extortion, but we have to deal with it,” Cohen said. “It's for the benefit of our country and the world's economy, and I will vote yes.”
McCarthy predicted that the vote, expected around 8:30 p.m. (0030 GMT), would succeed, telling reporters, "It's going to become law."
Biden underlined the stakes of failure, saying on Twitter, "Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation's history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost."
Wall Street's main indexes opened modestly lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the vote's outcome.
The House Rules Committee late on Tuesday, in the first procedural vote on the contentious legislation, cleared the measure for debate in the full House on Wednesday.
The committee voted 7-6 to advance the bipartisan deal, with two far-right Republicans in opposition, along with all four Democrats.
The solid Democratic opposition is not necessarily indicative of how the party would vote on the bill itself.
The legislation would suspend the US debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, allowing Biden and lawmakers to set aside the politically risky issue until after the November 2024 presidential election.
It would also cap some government spending over the next two years, speed up the permitting process for some energy projects, claw back unused Covid-19 funds, and expand work requirements for food aid programs to additional recipients.
The Treasury Department has warned that it will not be able to cover all the government's obligations by Monday if Congress does not raise the limit.
Reuters
