WASHINGTON — House Republicans reached a tentative agreement with the White House on Saturday night to address the nation’s borrowing limit and avoid a catastrophic default on the U.S. national debt. United States, Chairman Kevin McCarthy confirmed.
“We’ve come to an agreement in principle,” McCarthy said Saturday at the Capitol. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I believe this is an agreement in principle worthy of the American people.”
McCarthy said he spoke to President Joe Biden twice on Saturday about the plan. “I am expected to finish drafting the bill, check with the White House and speak with the president again tomorrow afternoon,” the California Republican said, “Then post the text of the bill on tomorrow, and then vote on Wednesday.”
“This deal features historic cuts in spending, subsequent reforms that will lift people out of poverty and into the workforce, while curbing excessive government access,” McCarthy said. government”. “No new taxes and no new government programs.”
Democrats did not immediately confirm or deny McCarthy’s description of the deal, which comes after more than a week of emergency negotiations between White House negotiators and Republicans in the House. House of Commons.
The announcement marks the start of a blitzkrieg of lobbying by House and Senate leaders in both parties to convince their members to vote for the package, which will need to win enough votes in the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-held Senate to raise the US debt ceiling in time to meet the June 5 deadline.
At least one senator, Mike Lee, Republican of Wyoming, has threatened to use Senate procedures to keep the debt ceiling bill in place for as long as possible if he doesn’t like its contents.
In the House of Representatives, a group of 35 ultra-conservative members openly pressured McCarthy to demand more concessions from Democrats and to “stand firm”. They also said they would not support a deal that they say gives too much away.
The announcement of a deal caught Washington officials by surprise, where members of both the House and Senate were absent for Memorial Day. Biden left the city on Friday for the weekend at Camp David.
The deal was made even more surprising by new guidance from the Treasury on Friday afternoon, identified June 5 as the date then the government will no longer have enough money to meet its debt obligations unless Congress increases the debt limit.
In announcing the June 5 announcement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen explained that the agency “planned to make approximately $130 billion in payments and transfers” in the first two days of June. This will “leave Treasury with extremely low resource levels.”
In a public letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Yellen wrote in a public letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy the week of June 5, the Treasury Department would owe “approximately $92 billion in debt. la payment and transfer money”.
Unless the debt limit is raised in time and the government is allowed to borrow more, “Our projected resources will not be sufficient to meet all of these obligations.”
A vote to increase the debt limit disallows additional government spending. It merely allows the Treasury to meet obligations approved by Congress in the past, some of them, decades ago.
However, many Republicans saw the biennial vote to raise the debt limit as an opportunity to draw concessions from Democrats in exchange for their votes to avoid default.
This time is no different. Republicans are asking the White House to agree to a bill that includes, at a minimum, basic government spending cuts, new job requirements for public assistance, energy permitting reform and cancel unused Covid emergency funds.
Initially, the White House balked at many of these issues and the negotiators spent the last two weeks try to come up with a compromise that can garner enough support to pass in the House and Senate.
“It’s not over yet. We’re not done. But we’re in a period where this can be done and we have to hit some really tough terms in these final hours.” North Carolina GOP negotiator Patrick McHenry said. reporters on Friday afternoon.
McHenry said he appreciated additional guidance from Yellen, calling the Treasury Secretary “a woman of principle” who “had great respect” for Republicans during months of deadlock over the debt ceiling. .
“In many ways, it answers what House Republicans are wondering about X-Day. Now we know, and that puts more pressure on us.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check ack for updates.
