On Wednesday, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to raise the public debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion. In doing so, Republicans, who control the lower house of Congress, have defied President Joe Biden by dramatically cutting government spending for the next decade.
The bill received the support of 217 Republican lawmakers, while 215 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, voted “no”. With this vote, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy hopes to convince Biden of the need for negotiations on the budget cuts. The president and Democrats in Congress are still pushing for an increase in the national debt ceiling with no strings attached from Republicans.
A White House statement released immediately after the vote in the House of Representatives said this “bill has no chance of becoming law.”
“Never in history have we defaulted on our debts by refusing to pay our bills. Republicans in Congress must act immediately and unconditionally to avoid default and ensure that the full credibility and credit standing of United States are not compromised, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “Economists are warning that a default could trigger a dangerous financial crisis, leading to a recession that would cost people their jobs. million Americans, would jeopardize Americans’ retirement savings and increase long-term federal borrowing costs, increasing deficits and debt.”
“The bill we passed changes the whole dynamic and puts real pressure on the Senate to do its job. And if they (the Democrats) say they’re not going to pass our bill, what kind of bill are they going to pass then?” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said before He stressed the “unacceptability” of a situation where Democrats “just sit back and do nothing.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer disagreed, telling reporters the House bill was “not viable.” According to Schumer, this legislation “just brings the country dangerously close” to a historic US debt default that will rock markets and economies around the world.
During debate on the bill, Republicans called Democrats “reckless wasters of taxpayers’ money.” It was the actions of the Democratic Party, they say, that led to the fact that the public debt was in a dangerous zone.
Democrats have criticized the dramatic spending cuts the bill could bring about if passed, jeopardizing programs such as health insurance for socially disadvantaged groups, the Head Start preschool program, funding for the forces of order and civil aviation security operations.
At this time, it is unclear whether the parties will meet, although according to government estimates, a potentially dangerous default on the state debt could be announced in just a few weeks.
For months, McCarthy struggled to balance the bill to secure the votes of all 222 Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Early Wednesday morning, the president had to give in to the demands of some party members in order to keep the bill. He allayed fears from some members of Congress about tax credits for biodiesel producers and answered calls from advocates for stricter requirements for recipients of federal programs helping low-income Americans.
As a result, a provision was removed from the final version of the text to eliminate tax incentives for biodiesel producers introduced as part of the 2022 Cut Inflation Act initiated by Biden.
Following right-wing party demands, Republicans also introduced a provision in the bill to increase employment requirements for low-income Medicare recipients of free medical care. This sparked fury from Democrats.
“The new plan is even more drastic… even more despicable.” Depriving the poor of health care is not enough. Now they want to do it faster,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a veteran Democrat on the House Rules Committee.
The bill raises the public debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion while reducing fiscal spending to 2022 levels, with growth still capped at 1% per year.
In 2011, a similar bipartisan standoff over the debt ceiling led to a downgrade in the United States’ credit rating and increased borrowing costs.
The White House called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling without any conditions, as happened three times under Biden’s predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
Lawmakers don’t know exactly how much time they have left to act. The apocalypse, when the Treasury can no longer pay all its bills, could arrive as early as June or extend until the end of the summer.
Read the Ukraine War News Latest Today on The Eastern Herald.
