President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s legislation to raise the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling and cut federal spending passed an important hurdle late on Tuesday. They will be debated and voted on by the full House on Wednesday.

The House Rules Committee approved full-chamber debate 7-6. Representatives Chip Roy and Ralph Norman opposed the bill.
That vote emphasized the necessity for Democrats to help pass the package in the House, where Republicans have a 222-213 advantage.

House approval sends the bill to the Senate. Before June 5, the Treasury Department could run out of funds for the first time in U.S. history.

The U.S. and global economy could collapse if the Treasury Department cannot make all its payments or must prioritize them.
Biden and McCarthy expect to pass the 99-page bill by June 5.

On Tuesday, Congress’s non-partisan budget scorekeeper projected the bill would cut spending by $1.5 trillion over ten years starting in 2024.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the measure would save public debt interest by $188 billion.

McCarthy dubbed the bill the “most conservative deal we’ve ever had.”

However, some of the House’s most conservative Republicans who wanted further budget cuts were unconvinced, and it was uncertain how many Democrats McCarthy would need to pass the bill on Wednesday.

As usual, all four Rules Committee Democrats voted against Republican-backed legislation. Even though Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries promised McCarthy support, it was uncertain if other Democrats would do the same on Wednesday.
Many Democrats in Congress wanted Biden to wait until Republicans passed a debt limit bill before negotiating budget cuts with them.

Biden’s chief negotiator, White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, urged Congress to pass the package.

“I want to be clear: This agreement represents a compromise, which means no one gets everything that they want and hard choices had to be made,” Young told a news conference.

Senate lawmakers could delay a vote until the weekend.

Republican Mike Lee has stated he may try to do so, while other Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with the accord.

The idea would suspend the U.S. debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025, allowing Biden and lawmakers to postpone the politically hazardous subject until after the November 2024 presidential election.

It would also freeze government spending for two years, speed up energy project permitting, claw back new COVID-19 funding, and oblige poor Americans to work for food help.

It would reduce IRS spending, but the White House maintains it won’t hurt tax enforcement.

Biden also has gained. The pact preserves his infrastructure and green-energy laws and slashes spending and work requirements less than Republicans wanted.

Republicans say severe spending cutbacks are needed to reduce the national debt, which at $31.4 trillion is equivalent to the economy’s yearly production.

As an aging population raises health and retirement costs, government predictions expect debt interest payments to consume more of the budget. The arrangement would not slow those fast-growing programs.

Capping domestic spending on housing, education, scientific research, and other “discretionary” programs would save the most. Military spending could rise for two years.

Rating agencies threatened to downgrade U.S. debt, which underlies the global financial system, during the debt-ceiling standoff.

Markets have welcomed the arrangement.