A agreement allowing the US to borrow additional money has been adopted by the House of Representatives only days before the greatest economy in the world is scheduled to begin defaulting on its debt.
Despite some cross-party voting, the bill comfortably cleared the chamber by a vote of 314-117.
Before President Joe Biden can sign the plan into law, the US Senate must vote on it later this week.
On Monday, June 5, the government is anticipated to reach its borrowing cap.
As policymakers scramble to prevent the US from defaulting on its $31.4 trillion (£25 trillion) debt, which supports the world financial system, there is little room for mistake.
Who won and what is in the US debt ceiling agreement?
The 99-page plan to increase the debt ceiling was approved by the House on Wednesday night with the help of 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans, receiving the necessary simple majority.
Prior to President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy signing a bipartisan accord over the weekend, a deal had proven elusive for weeks with Republicans in charge of the lower house of Congress and Democrats in control of the upper chamber and the White House.
Mr. Biden thanked the Speaker in a statement and said that he had bargained in good faith.
“Neither side got everything it wanted,” the president declared. “Governing is responsible for that,”
By adopting a package that lifted the debt ceiling but contained a long list of conservative goals, Kevin McCarthy was able to coax Joe Biden and reticent Democrats to the bargaining table.
Then, he was successful in keeping his party together as he and the president reached a less ambitious agreement that significantly curbed the rise in government spending and introduced some additional requirements for help to low-income Americans.
Hardline conservatives who signalled they might remove Mr. McCarthy from office and call for a fresh election for Speaker thought that was insufficient.
But by Wednesday, even the most ardent zealots were tempering their language. And when it came time to vote, Mr. McCarthy’s agreement received a majority of Republican support.
Even while the hardliners may complain, it is obvious that they lack the support and even the knowledge necessary to replace Mr. McCarthy.
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The debt cap is postponed under the agreement until 1 January 2025.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that the plan would save $1.5 trillion over the course of ten years.
But resistance from members in both parties put the bill’s approval in doubt.
Conservative Republicans felt they got too little in return for lifting the debt ceiling.
Democrats opposed elements that would require more labour from Americans receiving federal food assistance and would resume student loan repayments.
The bill was described as the “second serving of Satan’s sandwiches” by Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver, but he stated he would still vote in favour of it.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democrats, said that his group had helped the Republican Speaker politically.
The New York congressman declared, “House Democrats to the rescue once more to avert a dangerous default.”
“More Democrats voted for this ‘historic conservative victory’ than Republicans,” tweeted Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican who had promised to defeat the bill.
“What an absolute joke.”
Speaker McCarthy was successful in getting the package passed with the help of political centrists on both sides of the aisle despite the fact that Republicans only have a slim 222-213 majority in the House.
The largest reduction and savings this Congress has ever approved for, he said, was the way he packaged the deal.
It is not yet certain that the law will pass. It will now go to the Senate, where a mix of Democratic and Republican votes would once more be required.
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Utah’s Mike Lee, a conservative Republican, has already vowed to block adoption of the agreement by using “every procedural tool” at his disposal.
On Wednesday, socialist Senator Bernie Sanders declared that he could not “in good conscience” support the measure.
Both the Democratic and Republican Senate leaders are scrambling to get a measure to Vice President Biden this weekend for his signature to avoid a default.
The last time the US came this close to exceeding its debt ceiling, in 2011, the rating of the nation was lowered by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, a decision that has yet to be overturned.
Prior to the vote on Wednesday, the US major markets closed the day slightly down, with the Dow finishing 0.4% lower and the S&P and Nasdaq both falling by 0.6%.
reporting from Capitol Hill are Nomia Iqbal and Jessica Parker.
