2023-05-28 16:49:52
The agreement includes a “historic” reduction in public spending and reforms that “will lift people out of poverty
The White House and the Republicans have reached in the last few hours a “principle agreement” to raise the debt ceiling and prevent the United States from entering into suspension of paymentsas confirmed by President Joe Biden and the leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
“I just got off the phone with the president. After he wasted his time and refused to negotiate for months, we have reached an agreement in principle that is worthy of the American people,” McCarthy said in a message on social media.
Minutes later, in a brief appearance before the press, the Republican assured that the agreement includes a “historic” reduction in public spending and reforms that “will lift people out of poverty and incorporate them into the labor force.” He also stressed that it does not contain new taxes or new government programs.
“We still have a lot of work to do tonight to finish all the text” of the agreement, warned the leader of the Republicans in Congress, who did not want to answer questions from the press because he first wanted to tell the legislators of his party the pre-agreement details, cont.
McCarthy explained that the legislators will continue with the drafting of the bill in the next few hours. After this, he will consult with the White House, speak with Biden “tomorrow afternoon” before publishing the text, which will be voted on Wednesday the 31st.
all give way
An hour after McCarthy’s appearance, President Biden published a statement in which he acknowledged that the principle of agreement contains concessions from the Democrats, but maintains the “key priorities” of his Government.
“The agreement represents a compromise, which means that not everyone gets what they want. That is the responsibility of governing,” he said. However, he added, the agreement “protects” its “key priorities” and “the legislative achievements of Congressional Democrats.”
“It’s an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for workers and growing the economy for everyone,” Biden added.
The president confirmed that the negotiating teams of both parties have the task of finalizing the legislative text, which will be voted on both in the House of Representatives (controlled by the Republicans) and in the Senate (controlled by the Democrats). “I strongly urge both houses to pass the deal immediately,” he concluded.
The preliminary agreement comes one day after the Secretary of the Treasury, JanetYellenwould update to June 5 its estimate of the deadline after which the country could face a suspension of payments.
The debt limit is the total amount of money the United States Government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations to pay Social Security benefits and Medicaremilitary salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds and other payments.
From time to time, the United States faces default on its national debt because, unlike other countries, the government can only issue debt up to the limit set by Congress, which has the power to raise that ceiling as it sees fit.
The country reached its legal debt limit of $31.4 trillionwhich led the Treasury Department to resort to extraordinary measures ever since to pay the bills.
When the agreement is finalized and approved in the chambers, a period of fierce confrontation between Democrats and Republicans will come to an end, who had been trying for months without success to reach positions on this issue.
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