2023-06-01 01:25:34
The US House of Representatives has voted to pass a bipartisan bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Thus, the United States avoided the risk of defaulting on its debts, which is an unprecedented matter that could have catastrophic repercussions on the economy.
And the bill that will now have to be passed by the Senate in order for President Joe Biden to be published into force within five days at most, under penalty of default by the world’s largest economic power to pay its debts, 314 deputies voted for it compared to 117 who voted against it.
Following the vote, Biden said in a statement that the House of Representatives had taken a decisive step forward to prevent the first-ever default and protect the historic economic recovery of the United States.
Biden added, in his first reaction, that the budget agreement is a compromise between the two parties, and that neither side got everything he wanted, adding that he thanks House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his team for negotiating in good faith, in addition to House Democratic Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries.
Biden also called on the Senate to pass the bill as quickly as possible so it can sign it into law.
McCarthy: A step to put America back on the right track
For his part, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, whose marathon negotiations with Biden yielded this text, said, “The adoption of the Financial Responsibility Law is a decisive first step to getting America back on the right track.”
He added that this law “does what is responsible for our children, what is possible in a divided government, and what our principles dictate.”
McCarthy stressed during a press conference that the bill provides for “the largest budget cut in American history.”
The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, confirmed that if he receives the bill, he will refer it to the House “as soon as possible” so that “we avoid default.”
Congress must approve this text and refer it to Biden to publish a law in force this week, as the Treasury Department warned that the country’s treasury will be emptied next Monday if the borrowing ceiling is not raised or suspended.
If this law is passed as expected, the American political class will avoid returning to playing on the edge of the abyss until 2025, that is, after the presidential elections scheduled for the end of next year.
In return for suspending the public debt ceiling, the law imposes a limit on some expenditures, with the exception of military expenditures, to keep them stable in 2024, with an increase of 1% in 2025.
It also provides for a reduction of $10 billion in funds allocated to tax services to modernize them and tighten controls.
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