US: Deal to raise debt ceiling heads to Congress, Biden urges passage

United States President Joe Biden said on Sunday (May 28) that a final bipartisan deal to raise the US debt ceiling now heads to Congress. The deal was struck with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy just a few days before the deadline day.

Biden has urged "both chambers to pass that agreement" and also noted that he did not make too many concessions to end a debt limit crisis.

In a brief appearance before the media at the White House, Biden said, "I think it's a really important step forward. It takes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table."

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While speaking to reporters, Biden said that he believed McCarthy negotiated in good faith and had the votes to pass the agreement, which the president said protects his key policy priorities and is "good news" for the American people.

The US has avoided a cataclysmic default after multiple warnings from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as she had estimated that the nation could have run out of money to clear its bills had Congress failed to raise the ceiling on borrowing.

Meanwhile, the deal has given a sigh of relief to millions of people who were to lose jobs, and there was also a risk of a global meltdown.

As reported by US-based news outlets, McCarthy told a presser that it is expected that over 95 per cent of House Republicans will support the 99-page bill.In a statement, he also said that the deal would stop "out-of-control" spending by Biden. He argued that it "forces the Executive Branch to find dollar-for-dollar savings in the government for costly rules and regulations, so that executive overreach is reined in and held accountable".

Top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell urged his colleagues to quickly pass the legislation on the deal. He said, "The Senate must act swiftly and pass this agreement without unnecessary delay."

What was the crisis?

America was on the verge of default if the government would have failed to agree to raise the borrowing limit from its current 31.4 trillion dollars in order to maintain paying the nation's debts.

Republicans wanted Biden to sign up for spending cuts in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling, but Democratics called for a "clean" increase of the borrowing limit with no strings attached.

Now the basic framework of the deal suspends the federal debt ceiling, for two years — which is apparently enough to get past the next presidential election in 2024 and allow the government to keep borrowing money and remain solvent.

(With inputs from agencies)

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