WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 With days to spare before\u00a0a potential first-ever government default,\u00a0President\u00a0Joe Biden\u00a0and House Speaker\u00a0Kevin McCarthy\u00a0reached final agreement Sunday on a deal to raise the nation\u2019s debt ceiling and worked to\u00a0ensure enough Republican and Democratic votes\u00a0to pass the measure in the\u00a0coming week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Democratic president and Republican speaker spoke with each other Sunday evening as negotiators rushed to draft\u00a0the bill text\u00a0so lawmakers can review compromises that neither the hard-right or left flank is likely to support. Instead, the leaders are working to gather backing from the political middle as Congress hurries toward votes before a\u00a0June 5 deadline\u00a0to avert a damaging federal default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood news,\u201d Biden declared Sunday evening at the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default, for the first time in our nation\u2019s history,\u201d he said. \u201cTakes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The president urged both parties in Congress to come together for swift passage. \u201cThe speaker and I made clear from the start that the only way forward was a bipartisan agreement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The compromise announced late Saturday includes spending cuts but risks angering some lawmakers as they take a closer look at the concessions. Biden told reporters at the White House upon his return from Delaware that he was confident the plan will make it to his desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy, too, was confident in remarks at the Capitol: \u201cAt the end of the day, people can look together to be able to pass this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The days ahead will determine whether Washington is again able to narrowly avoid a default on U.S. debt, as it has done many times before, or whether the global economy enters a potential crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the United States, a default could cause financial markets to freeze up and spark an international financial crisis. Analysts say millions of jobs would vanish, borrowing and unemployment rates would jump, and a stock-market plunge could erase trillions of dollars in household wealth. It would all but shatter the $24 trillion market for Treasury debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anxious retirees and others were already making contingency plans for missed checks, with the next Social Security payments due soon as the world watches American leadership at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy and his negotiators portrayed the deal as delivering for Republicans though it fell well short of the sweeping spending cuts they sought. Top White House officials were briefing Democratic lawmakers and phoning some directly to try to shore up support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Sunday dragged on, negotiators labored to write the bill text and lawmakers raised questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol on Sunday that the agreement \u201cdoesn\u2019t get everything everybody wanted,\u201d but that was to be expected in a divided government. Privately, he told lawmakers on a conference call that Democrats \u201cgot nothing\u201d they wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A White House statement from the president, issued after Biden and McCarthy spoke by phone Saturday evening and an agreement in principle followed, said the deal \u201cprevents what could have been a catastrophic default.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Support from both parties will be needed to win congressional approval before\u00a0a projected June 5 government default on U.S. debts.\u00a0Lawmakers are not expected to return to work from the Memorial Day weekend before Tuesday, at the earliest, and McCarthy has promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negotiators agreed to some Republican demands\u00a0for increased work requirements for recipients\u00a0of food stamps that House Democrats had called a nonstarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the outlines of an agreement in place, the legislative package could be drafted and shared with lawmakers in time for House votes as soon as Wednesday, and later in the coming week in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Central to the compromise is a two-year budget deal that would essentially hold spending flat for 2024, while boosting it for defense and veterans, and capping increases at 1% for 2025. That\u2019s alongside raising the debt limit for two years, pushing the volatile political issue past the next presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Driving hard to impose tougher work requirements on government aid recipients, Republicans achieved some of what they wanted. It ensures people ages 49 to 54 with food stamp aid would have to meet work requirements if they are able-bodied and without dependents. Biden was able to secure waivers for veterans and homeless people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal puts in place changes in the landmark\u00a0National Environmental Policy Act\u00a0designating \u201ca single lead agency\u201d to develop environmental reviews, in hopes of streamlining the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It halts some funds to hire\u00a0new Internal Revenue Service agents\u00a0as Republicans demanded, and rescinds some $30 billion for\u00a0coronavirus relief, keeping $5 billion for developing the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal came together after\u00a0Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen\u00a0told Congress that the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 \u2014 four days later than previously estimated \u2014 if lawmakers did not act in time. Lifting the nation\u2019s debt limit, now at $31 trillion, allows more borrowing to pay bills already insurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCarthy commands only a slim Republican majority in the House, where hard-right conservatives may resist any deal as insufficient as they try to slash spending. By compromising with Democrats, he risks losing support from his own members, setting up a career-challenging moment for the new speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re going to get a majority of Republicans voting for this bill,\u201d McCarthy said on \u201cFox News Sunday,\u201d adding that because Biden backed it, \u201cI think there\u2019s going to be a lot of Democrats that will vote for it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d that he expected there will be Democratic support but he declined to provide a number. Asked whether he could guarantee there would not be a default, he said, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 100-strong group of moderates in the New Democratic Coalition gave a crucial nod of support on Sunday, saying in a statement it was confident that Biden and his team \u201cdelivered a viable, bipartisan solution to end this crisis\u201d and were working to ensure the agreement would receive support from both parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coalition could provide enough support for McCarthy to make up for members in the right flank of his party who have expressed opposition before the bill\u2019s wording was even released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also takes pressure off Biden, facing criticism from progressives for giving into what they call hostage-taking by Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told CBS that the White House and Jeffries should worry about whether caucus members will support the agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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