5/30/23 - Lawmakers Work On The Debt Ceiling

The House Rules Committee will take a look at the debt ceiling measure and pass it along to lawmakers for a vote.

WASHINGTON − During the Memorial Day weekend President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated a tentative agreement to raise the debt ceiling until 2025, which was in exchange for a number of Republican demands to cut spending.

Few lawmakers are expected to be fully satisfied with the changes and final product. 

Both sides spent the weekend trying to sell the plan.

The agreement faces an early test today as the House Rules Committee takes a look and must approve the procedure for bringing the legislation to the floor. 

Some are criticizing the deal as falling short of deeper spending cuts while others are not happy with changes in the policies that impact work requirements for older Americans in the food aid program.  Overall, the package is a tradeoff that would impose some spending reductions for the next two years along with a suspension of the debt limit into January 2025.

The administration has warned that Congress must raise the debt ceiling by June 5 or face default.