US debt ceiling deal: what has to happen now to get it passed?
The United States has days before it runs out of time to pay its bills and avoid a first-ever national default. Washington lawmakers are scrambling to push through a deal that would temporarily suspend the US debt limit, averting a potential disaster for the domestic and global economy.
The debt ceiling, which caps the amount of debt the US can hold, currently sits at $31.4tn. The US hit that limit in January. Since then, the treasury has taken “extraordinary measures” to prevent default.
Last week, the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, warned lawmakers that the US must pay its debts by 5 June – at which point the government would default.
Over the weekend, negotiators for Joe Biden and the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, reached a tentative deal to suspend the debt limit and avoid a debt default.
The clock then began for members of the House, who had 72 hours to review the deal and pass it through a floor vote.
The powerful House rules committee meets to review the deal, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, on Tuesday afternoon. The deal is expected to go to a chamber vote on Wednesday.
If passed by a simple majority in the House, the bill would then move to the Senate for another review, which could take days. The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, told senators to be prepared to vote on Friday and potentially over the weekend, days before the 5 June deadline.
Once it moves through both chambers of Congress, the bill then goes to the president’s desk for his signature.
While lawmakers have expressed confidence that the bill would successfully get past Congress, some hardline Republicans have signaled they will not sign the deal.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the rules committee, has urged fellow
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