US debt ceiling deal ready for Congress, says Biden
Washington, May 28 (EFE).- United States President Joe Biden said Sunday that a definitive bipartisan debt ceiling deal has been reached and that the bill is ready to move to Congress.
The deal was made “in principal” with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday.
“The agreement also represents a compromise, which means no one got everything they want. But that’s the responsibility of governing,” the president said at a press conference in which he called on the two chambers to approve the bill.
”The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, millions of jobs lost.”
“I strongly urge both chambers to pass that agreement. Let’s keep moving forward on meeting our obligations and building the strongest economy in the history of the world,” Biden said at the White House.
Although not many details of the agreement are known, the Democrat said that he made some concessions in the budget.
When asked about the risk that progressive legislators think that too many concessions were made, Biden replied: “They’ll find I didn’t.”
The US president said he believes that McCarthy negotiated “in good faith” and that the speaker has sufficient support from his party to pass the bill.
“I expect he does, or I don’t think he would have made the agreement,” he said.
In a message on Twitter, Biden said that the agreement protects his government’s priorities and achievements, rejects “extreme cuts” in programs for veterans, the elderly and families; protects Social Security and its Medicare and Medicaid programs and maintains the student debt relief program for 40 million people.
Lawmakers and senators will now have a few days to read the bill, which will first be voted on in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, five days before the date announced by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as the deadline before Washington would default. EFE
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