Republican and Democratic leaders are rallying support to approve the debt ceiling

After several weeks of negotiations, the United States is moving in the direction of avoiding the collapse of its public finances. Democratic and Republican leaders were confident they would come together this Wednesday sufficient support that on Wednesday night (early in the morning in Spain) the House of Representatives approves a bill that will raise the debt ceiling in the US for the next two years, that is, until the next presidential election.

Ahead of the vote, a deal reached over the weekend between the White House and Republicans led by Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling cleared its first hurdle Tuesday night: approval by the House Rules Committee, which sets the legislative agenda, which seven votes for and six againstand allowed their discussion in the hemicycle.

The presence on the committee of three Republicans from the most radical wing of the party indicated that the pact may be rejected before it is sent to Congress. It finally passed thanks to the support of one of the three congressmen who should have been most interested in stopping it, libertarian Thomas Massie. He claimed that he did not believe that the committee’s task had any place in ideology. “When people want to express their ideology, the place to do that is in the House of Representatives during the actual vote on the bill,” he said.

After overcoming this step, those responsible for the negotiations started this Wednesday to seek support in their parties for the planned vote. for 20:30 local time (02:30 Thursday in Spain). A vote of 218 congressmen was required for approval. Hours before the vote, negotiators expected to count on them.

criticism from the left

In addition to the criticism expressed by the most radical Republicans, the pact also raised doubts among the far left wing of the Democratic family. Congresswoman from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez convinced that I would vote against it agreement, because it was necessary to avoid suspension of payments but also to send a message that “taking the American economy hostage is not acceptable”. This Wednesday, he announced that McCarthy should “negotiate some things” if he needs his vote.

If approved in the lower house, the plan will go to the Senate (dominated by Democrats) for approval before ending up in the Oval Office for President Joe Biden’s signature.

Leader of the Senate Democrat Charles Schumer, warned senators that they would have to be available over the weekend. Approval of an increase in the debt ceiling must occur before Monday the 5th, the day when, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the funds the United States has to service its debts would be exhausted.