The United States Senate approved raising the debt ceiling and avoided a bailout

The US Senate, controlled by Democrats, approved this Thursday an agreement reached between the White House and the Republicans raise the debt ceiling and thus prevent the country from going into suspension of payments. With a vote of 63 to 36, the bill passed the final legislative hurdle before ending up in the Oval Office for President Joe Biden to sign.

The bill was approved by the Senate one day after the Republican-held House of Representatives gave it its approval and four days after a deadline set by the Treasury Department by which the US could default on its national debt. “The United States can breathe a sigh of relief because with this action we avoid a suspension of payments,” the House Democratic majority leader said shortly before the vote. Chuck Schumer. With these words, Schumer was announcing an agreement with a group of wayward Republican senators who had threatened to delay the process if Democrats did not commit to ensuring that the defense budget could be increased beyond what was provided for in the agreement. yourself.

After his speech, he began a long process of proposing amendments, which, however, failed to prevent the ratification of the project because it was approved by the House of Representatives a day earlier. Measure suspend the debt ceiling the next two years, until after the presidential election in November 2024. Specifically, it suspends the current $31.4 trillion debt limit until January 1, 2025. In exchange, the deal reached late between the White House and House Republicans considers, among other things, spending limits on programs funded by Congress in areas such as health, education, justice or environmental protection.

Under that pact, non-defense spending would remain the same in fiscal year 2024 and increase by 1% in fiscal year 2025. It also tightens work conditions for access to welfare benefits, such as food stamps, and reverses $28 billion in unspent which were intended for pandemic relief programs.

At the same time, part of the new funds intended for the public treasury is being cut in order to be redistributed to items other than defense and the continuation of debt payments accumulated by students is being considered.

Biden welcomes suspension of debt ceiling

President Joe Biden welcomed the passage of the debt ceiling bill in the Senate and said he hopes to sign it “as soon as possible” and will address the American people directly tomorrow. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but this agreement is a critical step forward and reminds us of what is possible when we act in the interest of our country,” the president said in a statement released shortly after the vote. in the Upper House.

In his summary, Biden thanked the leaders of both parties in the House of Representatives for quickly passing the measure. He also acknowledged that the agreement between the White House and Republicans, reached over the weekend, did not include “everything that each side wanted,” but that it was “a great victory for the economy and for the American people.”