Debt ceiling news – live: Biden signs debt limit bill after hailing deal in Oval Office address
Bill passed after senators rejected 11 proposed amendments
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.President Joe Biden has signed a bill to raise the national debt limit two days before the default deadline.
The White House announced the signing in a statement on Saturday afternoon, hours after Mr Biden spoke to the nation on Friday evening from the Oval Office and welcomed the bill’s bipartisan passage.
The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan agreement forged by Mr Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the $31.4 trillion US debt ceiling after the deal survived a Republican rebellion in the House of Representatives.
The narrowness of the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s passage through the House was made possible through the support of Democrats, who stepped in to thwart a conservative revolt that badly undermined Speaker McCarthy’s claims to control his increasingly divided party.
Full congressional approval was required before Monday 5 June, when the Treasury Department was expected to run out of funds to pay its debts for the first time in American history, triggering likely economic chaos.
Biden insists he will make wealthy ‘pay their share'
“Republicans may not like it, but I’m gonna make sure the wealthy pay their fair share,” he said during a Friday evening address to the nation from the Oval Office.
Biden: "Republicans may not like it, but I'm gonna make sure the wealthy pay their fair share." pic.twitter.com/fnngIdKKr6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 2, 2023
Ted Cruz admits Biden got GOP to ‘roll over’ for him
“There’s a reason that Biden and the Democrats are popping champagne and celebrating, they got Republican leadership to roll over… almost all of the spending cuts House Republicans initially passed, The Biden White House succeeded in getting stripped from this bill,” the US Senator from Texas admitted on Newsmax.
Cruz: There’s a reason that Biden and the Democrats are popping champagne and celebrating, they got Republican leadership to roll over… almost all of the spending cuts House Republicans initially passed, The Biden White House succeeded in getting stripped from this bill. pic.twitter.com/R2aZQPovrK
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 2, 2023
ICYMI: Senate passes debt limit bill after marathon 11 amendment votes to avoid default
The Senate voted late on Thursday night to raise the debt limit and avoid allowing the United States to default on its debt for the first time in history after having an all-night marathon session of votes to assuage Republican concerns.
Senate passes debt limit bill after marathon 11 amendment votes to avoid default
The bill goes to President Joe Biden’s desk before the United States would default on its debt
How Biden and McCarthy struck a debt-limit deal
It was advice that Mitch McConnell had offered to Joe Biden once already: To resolve the debt-limit standoff, he needed to strike a deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — and McCarthy alone. But after a first meeting of the top four congressional leaders with the president in early May, the Senate minority leader felt the need to reemphasize his counsel.
After returning from the White House that day, McConnell called the president to privately urge him to “shrink the room” – meaning no direct involvement in the talks for himself, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
That, McConnell stressed to Biden, was the only way to avert a potentially economy-rattling default.
Read more...
'Shrink the room:' How Biden and McCarthy struck a debt-limit deal and staved off a catastrophe
Perhaps most critical to locking up the debt-limit deal were President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s five handpicked negotiators, three men and two women unknown to most outside government
Underestimated McCarthy emerges from debt deal empowered as speaker
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is nothing if not a political survivor.
Underestimated from the start, the Republican who cruised around his California hometown of Bakersfield and stumbled into a career in Congress was never taken too seriously by the Washington establishment.
With overwhelming House passage of the debt ceiling and budget deal he negotiated with President Joe Biden, the emergent speaker proved the naysayers and eye-rollers otherwise. A relentless force, he pushed a reluctant White House to the negotiating table and delivered the votes from his balky House GOP majority to seal the deal.
Underestimated McCarthy emerges from debt deal empowered as speaker, still threatened by far right
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is nothing if not a political survivor
Biden and McCarthy’s debt limit deal went through – but there are winners and losers
The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday evening to raise the debt limit, with more Democrats voting to raise the limit than Republicans, and all but guaranteeing its passage in the United States Senate.
The vote served as a triumph for House Republicans as they moved the White House from initially wanting to have a clean debt limit increase to agreeing to some spending cuts. But 71 Republicans still opposed the agreement negotiated by the Biden administration and Reps Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Garret Graves (R-LA).
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he hopes to pass the legislation quickly and before 5 June, when the Treasury Department says the United States will be unable to fulfill its debt obligations and risk defaulting on its debt.
This was the first major test for House Republicans’ resolve since they took control of the lower chamber in January after a protracted series of votes to get a speaker. Some conservatives crowed that the bill did not go far enough in spending cuts while House Republican leaders say they forced the White House’s hand. Conversely, progressive Democrats criticised the deal for putting in place work requirements for social welfare programs.
These are the winners and losers of the debt limit standoff.
Biden and McCarthy’s debt limit deal went through – but there are winners and losers
Student debtors and SNAP recipients will pay a price
What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy?
Let’s take a look at what leaders in Washington have come up with to break the deadlock.
What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit?
Agreement will prevent US from defaulting on loans and losing credit rating
How the debt deal angered both progressives and conservatives
Eric Garcia explains.
Progressives and conservatives complain as Biden-McCarthy debt deal passes
More Democrats vote to raise the debt limit than Republicans as the bill heads to the Senate
Democrats frustrated by debt deal imposing new work requirements for food aid
Democrats are deeply conflicted about the food aid requirements that President Joe Biden negotiated as part of the debt ceiling deal, fearing damage has been done to safety net programs that will be difficult to unravel in the years ahead as Republicans demand further cuts.
Bargaining over toughening work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, became the focal point for the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., up until the end. Negotiators from both sides made clear, publicly and privately, that it was the biggest area of disagreement and almost led to the talks breaking down several times.
In the end, Democrats warily accepted new requirements for some able-bodied recipients in exchange for food aid. Republicans agreed to drop some work requirements for veterans, homeless people and others.
The result of the tense back-and-forth was a deal that played to both sides, but one that many Democrats agonized over as they weighed whether to vote for the package this past week. Many struggled to square cutting access to food for marginalized communities with an outcome that allowed the United States to avoid defaulting on its debt.
Read more from the Associated Press:
Debt deal imposes new work requirements for food aid and that frustrates many Democrats
Democrats are deeply conflicted about the food aid requirements that President Joe Biden negotiated as part of the debt ceiling deal
What happens next with debt ceiling bill?
Following its passage through the House and Senate this week, the Fiscal Responsibility Act is all but set in stone.
The only step left is getting a signature from President Joe Biden, who hailed the deal in a primetime address on Friday night.
“Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,” he said, just moments after he told Americans that the goals of the agreement — “keeping the full, faith, and credit of the United States” and enacting “a budget that continues to grow our economy and reflects our values as a nation” – are “essential” to continuing the progress made during the first two years of his presidency.
Mr Biden indicated that he will sign the bill sometime on Saturday.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments