The rating agency Fitch has put de USA under surveillance because of the ongoing debt dispute. There are at least some signs of movement in the negotiations in Washington. Meanwhile, the Democrats are pushing for a vote.
The rating agency Fitch has put the United States under surveillance because of the debt dispute and an impending default. As a result, the USA could lose its top AAA rating, as Fitch announced.
As justification, the rating agency referred to the political dispute in Washington, which is currently preventing an increase or suspension of the debt ceiling despite an impending default.
progress in conversations
Meanwhile, negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and opposition Republican negotiator Kevin McCarthy made progress on Wednesday, according to both sides.
“We’ve made some progress on the job (…). That’s very positive,” McCarthy told reporters after a four-hour meeting at the White House. “I want to make sure we get the right deal. I can see we’re working towards that.”
US Presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the talks remain fruitful. If things continue like this, “we can come to an agreement here.”
MPs on call
The House of Representatives will begin a week-long Memorial Day holiday on Thursday. However, Republican Steve Scalise said lawmakers would still be called to vote if an agreement was reached on raising the debt limit.
Because time is of the essence: According to the Treasury Department, the United States is threatened with insolvency from June 1 without an agreement.
Democrats want a vote
Also due to the increasingly scarce time, President Biden’s Democrats want to force a vote in the House of Representatives. The signatures of all parliamentary group members have been collected for such a project, said MP Katherine Clark, who is part of the Democrats’ leadership team in the House of Representatives.
The endeavor is given little chance of success. The Democrats do not have a majority in the House of Representatives. You also need five Republican signatures. With the petition, the Democrats want to force a vote on their bill raising the debt ceiling, bypassing Republican chairman of the chamber, Kevin McCarthy.
The collection of signatures is a procedural move. It is currently considered unlikely that there will be enough Republicans to support the project with their signatures.