Negotiations have been long and difficult, and now a majority of lawmakers in the Congress Chamber vote in favor of a bill that would suspend the debt ceiling until 2025.
The US House of Representatives has approved the last-minute bill aimed at averting a US default. A majority of lawmakers in the Congress Chamber on Wednesday evening (local time) voted in favor of the bill, which would suspend the US debt ceiling until 2025 while significantly curbing planned government spending over the next two years.
In order for the US government not to run out of money, after the House of Representatives, the Senate must also approve the project and President Joe Biden must sign the law. The time pressure is great: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently warned that insolvency could occur on June 5th – that is, as early as next Monday.
Biden’s government and the Republicans, who have a slim majority in the House of Representatives, had been struggling to find a cross-party compromise in long and difficult negotiations in recent weeks. Many politicians in both Biden’s Democrats and Republicans are dissatisfied with the result, especially on the left and right fringes of both parties.
However, in view of the looming US government default, which could trigger a financial and economic crisis with global consequences, MPs from the center of both parties rallied behind the deal and thus ensured the necessary majority for the vote. 314 members voted in favor of the bill in the House of Representatives, including 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats. The leaders in the Senate have promised to bring the draft to a vote there as soon as possible.