May 31, 2023 House passes US debt ceiling bill

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reacts during a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday night.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took a victory lap immediately after the House passed the debt limit deal with a big bipartisan showing. 

The speaker thanked his negotiating team, Reps. Garret Graves and Patrick McHenry, saying: “They’ve given their time and talents in this effort for more than a month.”

When pressed on his relationship with President Joe Biden after this process, he lamented that “he hasn’t invited me to dinner or lunch yet, so.” 

McHenry said it was an honor to be part of the team. Graves said many believed this would be a dysfunctional Congress, but instead the speaker was making this a “transformational Congress.” 

President Joe Biden called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders Wednesday night after the debt ceiling bill cleared the House, a White House official said.

Biden called McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, the official said.

Biden watched the vote with staff from Colorado Springs. Counselor Steve Ricchetti and Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell, two of the White House negotiators, joined by phone as votes were being cast.

Ricchetti, Terrell and other legislative staff held a watch party in the West Wing, for which Ricchetti provided pizza.

Rep. Nancy Mace said that she still trusts House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, despite her frustrations with and opposition to the debt limit deal that passed the House on Wednesday night.

“I do. I disagree with him vehemently on this thing tonight, but we can agree to disagree on a lot of things,” she said. 

Mace defended her vote against the bill, despite 149 of her Republican colleagues supporting it.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pauses during a news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday night.

Rep. Ken Buck told CNN after the debt limit deal passed the House that conservatives will be having discussions about ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy “in the next week or two,” although he didn’t commit to following through with that threat.

“The discussion about the motion to vacate is going to happen in the next week or two,” Buck, who opposed the debt limit deal, told reporters Wednesday.

Buck added that he has received calls from constituents about removing McCarthy from the speakership.

“My constituents are furious and you know what’s so interesting about the calls in the district? They are not only ‘vote against this bill,’ but they are ‘take McCarthy out.’ That’s what the calls are coming in,” he said.

Buck emphasized more Democrats voted for the bill in the House than Republicans.

However, pressed on his position on ousting McCarthy, he would not commit to attempting to do so at this point.

“My position is we’re gonna have a discussion. Remember, you got that on there? And I — we are going to have a discussion starting next week,” Buck said.

Asked by CNN if he would trust McCarthy to get them through the appropriations process, as conservative Rep. Ralph Norman suggested, Buck replied: “You trust him for appropriations? Because here’s what happens – no.”

President Joe Biden praised the House for passing the bipartisan debt limit deal Wednesday night, and urged the Senate to “pass it as quickly as possible” so he can sign it into law.

Former President Donald Trump weighed in Wednesday for the first time on the debt ceiling deal reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Trump said he would have liked to see “a lot of things” happen, but acknowledged the deal “was a good opportunity.”

“It is passed, and I guess I knew it was going to pass,” he said.

Lawmakers are now racing to approve the deal to avert a catastrophic default ahead of the expected June 5 deadline. The deal suspends the nation’s debt limit through January 1, 2025, caps non-defense spending, expands work requirements for some food stamp recipients and claws back some Covid-19 relief funds.

The House has passed the debt limit deal to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling through January 1, 2025. 

The final tally for the vote was 314 to 117. 

A total of 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats voted for the bill, while 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats voted against the bill.  

The bill will next need to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. It’s not yet clear when the Senate will vote. 

Members of the House of Representatives are now voting on the final passage of the debt limit bill.

The bill is expected to pass. It needs a simple majority – 218 – to pass.

The current CNN whip count has at least 56 votes against the bill – 13 Democrats and 43 Republicans. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNN earlier Wednesday that he is confident the debt limit deal will pass with a majority of House Republicans’ support, a critical threshold that GOP leaders have been feverishly working to secure over the last several days. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy defended the debt limit deal from conservative criticism during a speech on the floor while the House debated. 

He said if he voted no on the agreement because of what it lacked, he “would never vote yes.” His comments come after conservatives in his conference have claimed the bill does not go far enough to cut spending.

McCarthy touted the bill’s provisions on work requirements, clawing back COVID funding and rescinding funding for the IRS.

He also previewed the appropriations fights to come.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have made it clear they want to move ahead with a vote on the debt agreement bill as early as Thursday – but would need an agreement from all 100 senators to do so.  

If the House passes the legislation Wednesday evening, Schumer would take a procedural step to bypass committee and bring the bill straight to the floor. In order to meet the deadline, however, senators will need to find a time agreement, which both sides are optimistic can happen. 

How quickly is the question.

All 100 senators must agree on a timeline before the vote can begin. Otherwise, any single senator can hold up the vote. 

McConnell said Wednesday he hopes that the Senate can be done voting before the weekend if the House passes the bill Wednesday evening.

Amendments: Senators will be allowed to offer amendments to the bill. However, Schumer said Wednesday he does not want to have to send the bill back to the House — meaning that no amendment can actually pass. 

Amendments will be offered by senators from both sides of the aisle, but all 100 members must agree to schedule a vote on an amendment.  

The bill is expected to get more than 60 votes and overcome a filibuster attempt. 

Opposition: Several Republicans and a handful of Democrats have already said they will oppose the bill. A number of senators from both parties also told CNN they are still reviewing it. 

Some Senate Republicans said they are concerned about the defense number being too low. That was an issue that was raised Sunday night on a private conference call by Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is a “no.” Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is also opposed.  

Sen. Roger Wicker, right, listens during the Senate Armed Services hearing on May 4, in Washington, DC.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on Senate Armed Services Committee, is leaning against voting for the debt ceiling bill out of concern that the spending on defense is too low. 

“Probably not,” he told CNN when asked if he’d back the package. 

Wicker is a close ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

Asked about the timing of the vote, Wicker said he’s never sure with the Senate. 

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has shared similar concerns and has called for changes to that defense number. Graham could get an amendment, but it can’t pass or the entire bill would have to go back through the House again, blowing the deadline.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer defended his decision and that of other Democratic members who voted for the debt limit rule vote.  

Traditionally, the minority party does not vote for the rule, and there was drama on the House floor as Democrats held back at first while 29 Republicans voted against the rule. Ultimately, it was approved, thanks to support from 52 Democrats.

Asked how Democrats came to the decision to vote for the rule, Gottheimer pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“Our leader is the one in charge in terms of making sure that we are doing everything we can to get this across the finish line,” he said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would not answer directly when asked if Democrats extracted any concessions when they bailed out the GOP by supporting the rule covering the floor debate Wednesday afternoon that cleared the way for a vote on the debt ceiling bill tonight.

Instead, he slammed Republicans saying, “What does that say about this extreme MAGA Republican majority?”

Jeffries called it “stunning” that 29 Republicans voted against the debt ceiling debate rules.

Rep. Matt Gaetz arrives to Rayburn Building on Wednesday, May 24.

The House of Representatives is on track to vote Wednesday on a bill to suspend the nation’s debt limit through January 1, 2025, as lawmakers race to prevent a catastrophic default.

Earlier Wednesday, the chamber cleared a key hurdle to advance to a final vote when it approved a rule governing floor debate for the debt limit bill.

Rules are typically supported by just the majority party and opposed by the minority. But in this case, 52 Democrats voted “yes” to get the rule across the finish line after 29 Republicans voted against it.

These are the 29 Republicans who voted “no”:

The House has passed the rule governing floor debate for the debt ceiling bill.

The tally was 241 to 187, with 29 Republicans voting “no” and 52 Democrats voting “yes.” Passage of the rule clears the way for a final House vote on the debt ceiling bill this evening. 

Rules are typically supported by just the majority party and opposed by the minority, but in this case, Democrats had to cross the aisle to get the rule across the finish line.

The GOP defections exposed deep divisions within the House Republican conference.

Democratic leaders instructed their members to let Republicans put up their votes for the rule first, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The strategy for the Democrats: Let Republicans sweat and show how many defections GOP leaders had. 

Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on May 31. 

The Dow slipped more than 100 points on Wednesday as investors kept a close eye on the progress of the debt ceiling deal in Congress.

The Dow closed down 132 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 was 0.6% lower. The Nasdaq Composite also lost 0.6%.

President Joe Biden and Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy reached a spending deal over the weekend to raise the debt limit. The House is expected to vote on the bill later today.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes the chamber will finish voting on the debt ceiling agreement tomorrow or Friday.

Still, the timeframe to get the bill passed through both chambers of Congress and signed into law is extremely tight.

Lawmakers are racing against the clock to avert a catastrophic default ahead of June 5, the day the Treasury Department has said it will no longer be able to pay all of the nation’s obligations in full and on time.

Analysts say the proposed debt ceiling deal could have only marginal effects on the US economy.

That’s based on various estimates showing that government spending will be only slightly pared back over the two years of the deal, creating a small effect on overall economic output as measured by gross domestic product, including a limited number of job losses.

Despite the deal’s limited macroeconomic impact, some analysts say it could also usher in a new era of tighter fiscal policy as congressional lawmakers contend with a national deficit that ballooned during the years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here’s what’s in the proposed deal and how it would show up in the broader economy:

What’s in the deal? The deal would suspend the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit through January 2025. It would keep non-defense spending relatively flat in fiscal 2024 and then set a cap of 1% in spending increases for fiscal 2025. The US government’s fiscal year runs from October through September.

In addition to curbing spending, the deal would protect veterans’ health care benefits, temporarily broaden work requirements for certain adults receiving food assistance benefits, claw back some Covid-19 relief funds, cut funding for the Internal Revenue Service, restart student loan repayments, maintain climate measures, and expedite a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia.

The debt deal and GDP. Economists at Goldman Sachs expect the deal to reduce federal spending by as much as 0.2% of gross domestic product per year over the two years of the deal, compared with their baseline estimate.

However, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a webinar that he expects the deal to reduce GDP growth by about 0.2% in 2024 and by a further 0.1% in 2025, which are “well within the margin of GDP measurement error.”

And Gregory Daco, EY-Parthenon’s chief economist, estimated that the proposed deal would have a 0.3% drag on real GDP in 2024 and lead to 250,000 job losses. The economy had about 161 million filled jobs in April, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At least for now, the light at the end of tunnel in the form of a debt-ceiling deal seems to have reassured financial markets.

Read more.

The House of Representatives is now voting on the rule governing floor debate for the debt ceiling bill. The rule must be adopted to clear the way for a final House vote on the bill later this evening. 

Rules are typically supported by just the majority party and opposed by the minority. But in this case, Republicans are expecting as many as 20 GOP lawmakers to vote against the rule, according to a conservative lawmaker familiar with an internal whip count among the bill’s critics.

That means Democrats will have to step in to help push the rule over the finish line. 

Some Democrats have signaled they would be willing to back the rule if their votes were needed, so the rule is unlikely to be in danger of passage.

Still, having that many Republicans defecting on the rule would expose deep divisions in the GOP, which could be problematic for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the chamber cannot send a debt ceiling bill back to the House with amendments — even though they may have to agree to votes on some amendments to get all 100 senators to agree to a timeline for the vote.  

The majority leader again emphasized the importance of getting the vote done quickly.

“We’re getting close to putting this threat of default behind us, but there’s still more work perhaps the most important work to do passing it into law. I hope the House will do its job later today and urge my colleagues in this chamber to be prepared to do the same when the time comes, and it’s coming soon,” Schumer said.

Schumer also responded to the criticism from some that Democrats could have solved the debt ceiling problem last Congress when they had control of both chambers.

“We didn’t have the votes, plain and simple,” Schumer said.

As many as 20 House GOP lawmakers are expected to vote against the rule for the debt ceiling bill, according to a conservative lawmaker familiar with an internal whip count among the bill’s critics.

That means Democrats will have to step in to help push the rule over the finish line, which are typically party-line votes. 

Some Democrats have signaled they would be willing to back the rule if their votes were needed, so the rule is unlikely to be in danger of passage.

Still, that many Republicans defecting would expose deep divisions in the GOP, which could be problematic for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has enjoyed a surprising level of unity in his ranks since his bruising speaker’s battle.

Democratic leaders have instructed their members to let Republicans put up their votes for the rule first, a source familiar tells CNN. The strategy for the rule vote: let Republicans sweat and show how many defections GOP leaders have. 

Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, told CNN he plans to take his cues from leaders before he steps in to help Dems on the rule.

CNN’s Haley Talbot and Lauren Fox contributed reporting to this post.

Sen. Bernie Sanders leaves after a news conference on debt limit at the Capitol on May 18, in Washington, DC.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will vote “no” on the debt limit deal.

He is the first senator who caucuses with Democrats to publicly say he will vote against the bill, while many are saying they are undecided. 

Sanders said he opposed the climate provisions, work requirements, and other concessions made by the White House to get a deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. 

He captioned his statement, “I cannot, in good conscience, vote for the debt ceiling deal,” on Twitter.

Sanders later defended his decision but noted that he won’t delay its final passage.

The senator from Vermont said there will likely be enough votes to pass the legislation without his support. “I think they can count votes. I suspect it will pass,” he said. 

In the Senate, any member can slow down the process by objecting to waiving time for debate. Sanders told CNN that he will not oppose any time agreement. “No, I think we should move this thing as quickly as possible,” he said.

View Sanders’ full statement here:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called defense spending levels in the debt limit deal the “worst part” of the agreement, but said that on balance, it is still a good deal. 

He told reporters that he hopes the Senate will finish voting on the debt ceiling deal Thursday or Friday after it receives the bill from the House. 

All 100 senators must consent to this timeline.

The minority leader again praised House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s negotiation for the agreement, despite “objections” from some Republican senators. 

“I would say that most of my members who do have objections would like to do more of the things that are already in the bill,” McConnell said. “I think Speaker McCarthy you should be congratulated on capturing a number of priorities.”

Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to members of the press as he arrives at the Capitol on May 31, in Washington, DC. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed back on conservatives’ complaints about the debt limit deal he made with the White House.

“This is the largest cut in American history,” McCarthy told CNN when asked about GOP criticism that the debt limit suspension could authorize $4 trillion in new borrowing.

McCarthy disputed the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment of the bill, which found that it makes more people eligible for certain welfare programs.

“I’ll bet you dinner that you’ll find that it actually saves more money, because it adds the age group, but at the same time, it cuts the states that have the loopholes that do the 12% down to 8%. And, you know, if you’ve been here long enough, CBO always gets that part wrong,” he said.

A customer shops for eggs at a H-E-B grocery store on February 08, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

House Republicans defended their broadening of work requirements for safety net programs in the debt ceiling bill, saying it would help people escape poverty and assist employers looking to hire. 

The representatives also challenged the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis of the package, released Tuesday, that showed enrollment in the food stamp program would increase by 78,000 people in an average month when fully implemented, as well as grow spending by $2.1 billion over the decade. 

Under the package, able-bodied adults without dependents who are ages 18 through 54 could get food stamps for only three months out of every three years unless they are employed at least 20 hours a week or meet other criteria. Currently, that mandate applies to those ages 18 through 49. 

But veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth of all ages would be exempt under the debt ceiling bill. The legislation would also tighten the share of unused exemptions states can carry over from year to year.

“What we know unimpeachably from the bulk of the evidence is that work requirements, when properly deployed, absolutely help people escape poverty and grow the economy,” said GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota — who authored a more stringent bill earlier this year to increase work mandates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Advocates for lower-income Americans, however, say that many people receiving government benefits are already employed. And they point to multiple studies that show work requirements don’t really help additional folks find jobs or increase their income, but instead strip them of much-needed aid. 

Johnson also argued that the GOP’s insistence on beefing up work requirements is not about slashing government programs.

“Republicans have tried to say all along that our belief in, focus on and commitment to work requirements is not about saving a buck,” he said. “It is about helping Americans escape poverty, and it’s about growing the economy.”

Republican lawmakers also blasted states for using loopholes to expand enrollment to secure more federal funding and cited a recent Axios-Ipsos poll that showed nearly two-thirds of Americans support work requirements for food stamps and Medicaid. 

In their debt limit bill passed in late April, House Republicans called for introducing work requirements to Medicaid and for broadening the mandates in food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs.

Additional changes: The compromise package would also tighten the current work requirements in the TANF program, primarily by adjusting the work participation rate credits that states can receive for reducing their caseloads.

It would also bar states from counting people who receive less than $35 in monthly assistance from TANF in their work participation rate, which GOP Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, who is the House Ways and Means Committee chair, said states send to those already employed to help them meet the requirement.

But the deal would not add a work requirement in Medicaid. 

House Republicans also took issue with the CBO report, saying that the agency double-counted veterans and others who would be newly exempt from the work requirement in the food stamps program. The lawmakers argued that many of those already qualify and would not become newly eligible.  

Changes to the work requirement provisions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program would reduce spending by $5 million over the decade, according to the CBO.

President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit vote process during a meeting with leaders of federal emergency preparedness and response teams in the Roosevelt Room of the White House May 31 in Washington, DC.

President Joe Biden said movement on the debt ceiling deal is “going as planned,” as the House of Representatives is set to vote on it this evening.

“I think things are going as planned, God willing,” Biden said to reporters after receiving a briefing on extreme weather at the White House on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Biden is scheduled to travel to Colorado to prepare for his commencement speech at the Air Force Academy tomorrow.

Biden said he hopes that by the time he lands, “Congress will have acted, the House will have acted, and we’ll be one step closer.”

Voting timeline: Debate on the final passage of the debt ceiling bill can begin at 7:15 p.m ET, 72 hours after the bill’s text was posted. The vote for final passage is expected at 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday evening, according to CNN’s Capitol Hill team.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) arrives at the US Capitol ahead of an expected vote in the US House of Representatives on a bill raising the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, in Washington on May 31.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday that he isn’t worried about losing his gavel over the debt limit deal.

McCarthy projected confidence ahead of tonight’s House vote on the debt limit bill but said he would talk to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer for the latest count. 

“I think we’re going to do quite well,” he told CNN.

The Republican leader said his message to members on both sides of the aisle is to vote for the bill because it’s “the first step to change the way we spend money.” 

McCarthy also weighed in on the rule that the House will take up this afternoon to consider the debt limit deal. Traditionally, the minority party does not vote for the rule, but if conservatives vote against it, McCarthy may need Democratic votes. Asked if he has spoken with Democratic leadership about any members of their party voting for the rule, he said, “I stay in communications with people all the time, just working through.” 

McCarthy criticized Senate Republicans for pushing to spend more money for defense programs, saying that “defense is a high priority for us, but I’d also say, as to how much we’re spending on defense, is any of it wasted?”

He also discussed a bipartisan commission he wants to create to study the budget, saying it would try to make “bigger accomplishments” toward getting the budget in line.

He said the commission would have to be bipartisan, adding, “this is a place that both parties should actually come together.”

What’s next: If the House passes the bill as expected, it would next need to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. In the Senate, any one lawmaker can delay a swift vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told lawmakers to prepare for the possibility of votes Friday or over the weekend.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy finally reached an agreement to avert the United States’ first default on its debt — but you may want to hold your applause. There could be an even more dramatic second act to the debt ceiling drama.

Here’s why:

It’s not a done deal: The House of Representatives is set to vote on the bill on Wednesday, less than a week before the June 5 X-date. If the House passes the bill as expected, it would then need to be passed by the Senate and sent to Biden to be signed into law.

It’s an extremely tight timeline and adds a huge amount of pressure on the leadership of both parties.

Credit rating agencies could still downgrade US debt

Even if the bill is passed in time to avoid a default, credit rating agencies could still downgrade US debt if people lost a significant amount of confidence in the country’s ability to repay its debts on time.

That’s what merited the first-ever downgrade of US debt in 2011.

Three days after lawmakers signed a deal, Standard and Poor’s downgraded US debt from its highly coveted AAA status due to a loss in confidence in the country’s ability to repay its debts from months of squabbling among lawmakers. That sent markets sharply lower.

This time around, one of the top credit rating agencies, Fitch, has already placed US debt on rating watch negative.

“The Rating Watch Negative reflects increased political partisanship that is hindering reaching a resolution to raise or suspend the debt limit despite the fast-approaching x date (when the US Treasury exhausts its cash position and capacity for extraordinary measures without incurring new debt),” the company said in a statement last week before McCarthy and Biden reached an agreement.

As of Wednesday, the other two major sovereign debt credit rating agencies, S&P and Moody’s, have not placed US debt under review.

If Fitch downgrades US debt, it could cause yields on Treasury notes to spike, underscoring the increased risks associated with holding US debt. That would increase the cost of borrowing money since banks and other lenders often base interest rates on US bond yields.

However, the opposite occurred after S&P downgraded US debt in 2011 — investors shrugged it off and bought more bonds, sending yields lower.

Keep reading here.

 A tassel with 2023 on it rests on a graduation cap as students walk in a procession for Howard University's commencement in Washington, on May 13.

If passed into law, the bipartisan debt ceiling deal will dash any hope borrowers might have that the federal student loan payment pause would be extended for a ninth time.

President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly said the Covid pandemic pause on federal student loan payments would end later this year — but officials have said that before and gone on to extend the pause again.

This time, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona may not be able to do so. The agreement to address the debt limit includes a provision that specifically prevents him from extending the pause on payments again, according to the bill text.

The pause “shall cease to be effective” 60 days after June 30, the bill reads.

That’s roughly in line with the Biden administration’s plan to resume payments either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on the separate student loan forgiveness program – whichever comes first. The justices are expected to rule in late June or early July.

The one-time student loan forgiveness program promises up to $20,000 of debt relief for low- and middle-income borrowers if the Supreme Court allows it to move forward. While House Republicans have previously voted to block the program – a bill Biden has pledged to veto – the debt ceiling deal leaves it alone.

When the pause ends later this year, roughly 44 million people will have to restart making payments on their federal student loans, and there is some concern about whether the process will go smoothly.

Read more.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on May 17.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he will move to bring the debt ceiling bill to the Senate floor “as soon as possible” after it clears the House, which it is expected to do Wednesday evening.

“Although the House still has more work to do, senators should be prepared to move on this bill quickly once it’s the Senate’s turn to act,” he said in floor remarks. “I cannot stress enough that we have no margin, no margin for error. Either we proceed quickly and send this bipartisan agreement to the president’s desk, or the federal government will default for the first time ever.”

His remarks were a message to Republican members who have suggested they will use available tools to delay or try to derail the bill. 

But, he said, “Moving forward on this agreement is the sensible, responsible, and very necessary thing to do. We’re getting close to finally putting the threat of default behind us.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed Schumer, saying that when the bill reaches the Senate, “I’ll be proud to support it without delay.”

McConnell praised House Republicans for negotiating the debt ceiling bill, saying that their unity “gave them the upper hand.”

McConnell did not address any of his conference threatening to try to delay the bill in the upper chamber. 

The U.S. Capitol is seen on May 16 in Washington. 

The House is on track to vote Wednesday on the debt limit bill after the legislation cleared a key hurdle Tuesday in the House Rules Committee. With that vote looming, here’s what Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate are saying about the bill:

Sen. Jon Tester, a vulnerable Democrat of Montana who is up for reelection, told CNN he is still reviewing the debt ceiling agreement. 

Tester joins a number of Democrats who have told CNN they are undecided on whether to support the agreement. The Montana Democrat says he is concerned about military funding, and ensuring that “we are taking care of people domestically.” Tester also told CNN he has not talked to the White House about his concerns. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is up for reelection in 2024, told CNN Wednesday that he will vote for the debt ceiling agreement.  

Yesterday, he told CNN’s Manu Raju that he did not know how he was going to vote. Asked what changed since yesterday, Brown said he did not change his mind, he simply had more time to read the bill. 

Rep. Debbie Dingell told CNN she’s “gonna end up voting” for the agreement to raise the debt limit, saying “the process stinks.” 

“I don’t like being held hostage,” she said. “I’m going to support the president.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal said that she will vote against the debt ceiling compromise.  “I will be a no,” she said as she walked into a caucus meeting with White House officials who are briefing Democrats this morning. 

Jayapal, who leads the House progressive caucus, was careful not speak for other members of her caucus, but she told reporters “I think that there will be plenty of votes to pass this from Republicans.” Asked if progressive support would be needed at this time, Jayapal said, “I don’t think so.”

Rep. Dan Kildee, Democrat from Michigan, said the mood in the House Democratic caucus is that Democrats are still grappling with the bill to raise the debt ceiling and feeling the weight of being in the minority in a divided government. 

Kildee said the House Democrats applaud the negotiators and are so proud of Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, a former House staff director, but he said members are still frustrated they had to negotiate over the debt ceiling. 

While he sounded likely to vote for the package, he said he had not made a final decision. 

“So I feel pretty positive about where we are. I’ll make a final decision during the day but at the end of the day, it’s a choice between default and accepting the fact that they went over social security. They failed. They went after Medicare. They failed. They went after Medicaid. They failed. They went after the inflation Reduction Act, they failed. They went after the bipartisan infrastructure bill, they failed,” he said.

Rep. Cori Bush told CNN that “this is a bad deal” as lawmakers left a briefing with White House officials. Bush added that she is “leaning no,” but she has not made a final decision.

Rep. Steve Cohen said he would vote for the deal, even if he still has concerns: “There’s parts of it I don’t like, but I’m gonna vote for it.”

Rep. Jared Huffman, a progressive Democrat from California, told CNN he is a no on the deal and said he is “discouraged” that the White House cut a compromise that he believes will make climate change worse.

“I don’t like this deal. I think there were better ways to avoid default,” Huffman told CNN.

Huffman said he confronted White House officials with his concerns during today’s briefing, and he said he wasn’t satisfied with their response.

In closed meeting with White House officials Wednesday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries strongly urged the divided Democratic caucus to back the debt ceiling bill, according to a person in the room.

Democratic votes will be needed today to get the bill through, and many Democrats are signaling they will reluctantly support it given there’s no other viable option to avoid default.

A poster at a bus shelter shows the national debt in Washington, DC, on May 21.

The debt ceiling bill would reduce budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the package, released Tuesday evening. By contrast, the debt limit legislation passed by House Republicans in late April would have cut deficits by $4.8 trillion, according to the agency.

Under the deal negotiated with the White House, discretionary spending would decrease by $1.3 trillion over the decade, while mandatory spending would be cut by $10 billion and revenues would decrease by $2 billion, on net.

The CBO’s score also contains one potential complication for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The work requirements provisions in the package would boost enrollment in the food stamps program by 78,000 people in an average month when fully implemented, as well as increase spending by $2.1 billion over the decade.

The legislation calls for increasing the upper age limit of adults subject to the existing work requirement to age 55, up from the current age 50. But veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth of all ages would be exempt.

Changes to the work requirement provisions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program would reduce spending by $5 million over the decade.

House Republicans were adamant about increasing work requirements in safety net programs, which they said would lead to less dependency on government aid.

The package would also rescind $1.4 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service, but this would decrease revenues by $2.3 billion over the decade, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of $900 million, over the period, the CBO said. The agency anticipates that cutting that funding would result in fewer enforcement actions and a reduction in revenue collections.

As part of the deal with the White House, some $20 billion of the $80 billion funding boost the IRS is receiving over the next decade from the Inflation Reduction Act would be diverted to partially make up for reductions in other discretionary spending.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., right, next to Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, speaks about the threat of default during a news conference, Wednesday, May 24 on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who leads the House progressive caucus, said that she will vote against the debt ceiling compromise.

“I will be a no,” she said as she walked into a caucus meeting with White House officials who are briefing Democrats this morning. 

Jayapal was deliberate to not speak for other members of her caucus, also telling reporters, “I think that there will be plenty of votes to pass this from Republicans.”

When asked if progressive support would be needed at this time, she said, “I don’t think so.” 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the whip operation around the debt limit deal is ongoing, but the caucus is coming together around the legislation.

“There were members this morning who were undecided … by tonight, they came up and spoke and said that they’re now going to vote for the bill,” the Republican from Louisiana said during a late-night news conference. “Still a lot of work to do, just getting started.”

When asked about a potential motion to vacate, Scalise said, “I don’t think that’s where it is going.”

Reps. Thomas Massie, Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke out in support of the bill after the conference meeting. Greene said it is time to get this bill passed, after calling it a “sh*t sandwich” earlier.

Some Republicans in the news conference did criticize the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the package. The CBO said the bill would reduce budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over a decade, discretionary spending would decrease by $1.3 trillion over the decade, while mandatory spending would be cut by $10 billion and revenues would decrease by $2 billion, on net.

GOP negotiator Rep. Patrick McHenry pointed to CBO’s estimate that the bill’s SNAP provisions — which raises the age for those who are required to work in order to receive benefits — would actually expand overall eligibility for the program, since there are also new exemptions for certain populations.

“The CBO got it wrong,” McHenry said.

This is key because Republicans have touted the work requirements as a major win, but conservative critics are seizing on this CBO estimate to show it as an example of the bill not achieving what their leadership says it does.

The U.S. Department of Treasury seen on March 13 in Washington, DC.

The US government took one step back from self-inflicted economic disaster on Tuesday.

House Republicans avoided the first attempt at assault by hardline conservatives, who are appalled at the bipartisan plan to suspend the debt ceiling until after the presidential election.

Many of the hardliners aren’t buying into the mirage that the deal to cut some spending for two years and seek to control it after that will have a meaningful effect on the size and scope of the federal deficit.

Accomplishing that larger goal would require meddling with the sacred cows of American government spending – from the Pentagon, Social Security and Medicare – which weren’t even part of this debt ceiling conversation.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have portrayed the debt ceiling bill as the best possible compromise achievable in the limited time before the Treasury Department is unable to meet its obligations, which could be as soon as June 5. And that could be, but it’s not coming without objections from the political left and right.

It won’t fix the deficit: While the bill at hand will accomplish the important task of neutralizing the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, it is not designed to do much of substance about controlling the spending that created the debt in the first place.

Lawmakers exempted spending on Social Security, which currently accounts for 19% of US spending; Medicare, 12% of spending; and national defense, 12% of spending, from the talks. Republicans rejected any suggestion of tax hikes.

The social safety net and national security are drivers of the deficit lifestyle that has created the $31.4 trillion national debt. They would have to be on the table to truly contain spending.

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released Tuesday night, the bill would reduce budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over a decade. By contrast, the debt limit legislation passed by House Republicans in late April would have cut deficits by $4.8 trillion, according to the agency.

But CBO’s score presents a potential problem for McCarthy. The work requirements provisions in the package would boost enrollment in the food stamps program by 78,000 people in an average month when fully implemented, as well as increase spending by $2.1 billion over the decade.

Read the full analysis here.

Left: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to the press after an "agreement principle" was reached between House Republicans and President Joe Biden's team to avoid a default on the U.S. debt at the U.S. Capitol on May 28. Right: US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the bipartisan budget agreement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 28.

After several weeks of tense negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Republicans reached an agreement in principle over the weekend to address the debt limit and cap spending.

The drama is by no means over. Now the bill must pass both chambers of Congress. If Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by June 5, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns the government will not have enough funds to pay all of the nation’s obligations in full and on time.

Here’s a breakdown of what the deal would do (you can also read the bill in full here):

Address the debt ceiling: The agreement would suspend the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit through January 1, 2025. This removes it as a potential issue in the 2024 presidential election.

Cap non-defense spending: Under the deal, non-defense spending would remain relatively flat in fiscal 2024 and increase by 1% in fiscal 2025, after certain adjustments to appropriations were made, according to a White House official. After fiscal 2025, there would be no budget caps.

Cut Internal Revenue Service funding: House Republicans have been determined to jettison money allotted to the IRS to fight fraud. The debt ceiling bill does that, rescinding $1.4 billion in IRS funding.

Expand work requirements: The agreement calls for temporarily broadening of work requirements for certain adults receiving food stamps.

Claw back some Covid-19 relief funds: The deal would rescind roughly $28 billion in unobligated funds from the Covid-19 relief packages that Congress passed to respond to the pandemic, according to the House GOP.

Restart student loan repayments: Under the deal, borrowers would have to begin paying back their student loans at the end of the summer, as the Biden administration has already announced. The pause has been in effect since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Expedite a pipeline in West Virginia: The agreement would also speed the creation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia.

The US Capitol building is seen from the base of the Washington Monument as the sun rises in Washington, DC, on May 28.

GOP and Democratic sources are confident the debt limit bill will pass the House of Representatives today, despite the fury on the right and skepticism on the left over the bill.

Democrats say that if Republicans struggle to get the votes, they are prepared to bail out the GOP, including to approve the rule, which must be adopted first and typically is supported by just the majority party and opposed by the minority. But with several hardline conservatives prepared to vote against the rule, Democratic votes will likely be needed on the floor for the rule, congressional sources said.

And on the bill itself, Democrats want Republicans to deliver 150 votes and plan to supply the rest of the votes. But if the GOP falls short, Democrats say they believe they will make up the shortfall since default isn’t an option. Some Democrats plan to wait and see if their votes are needed on the floor before casting their vote.

Republican leadership sources are confident they can deliver a majority of their GOP conference and are pushing to bring in 150 Republican votes on the bill.

Lengths of pipe wait to be laid in the ground along the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Virginia, on September 29, 2019.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s monthslong effort to greenlight the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline – a project that will pipe methane gas across parts of West Virginia and Virginia – is likely to prevail in the bipartisan debt ceiling deal, angering environmental groups and some Democratic lawmakers.

Manchin helped secure a provision in the deal that would compel federal agencies to approve all remaining permits for the approximately 300-mile natural gas pipeline, as well as shield the project from further litigation.

The conservative Democrat, who has been critical of the Biden administration’s environmental goals, praised the White House and congressional Republicans this week.

While attaching the pipeline to the must-pass legislation has delighted West Virginia lawmakers, environmental groups are furious that Congress stepped in after they had successfully challenged the pipeline in court. As recently as last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had struck down permits for the project on the grounds that they violate the Clean Water Act.

“Literally, they are changing the rules as we are playing the game,” Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of indigenous environmental justice group 7 Directions of Service, told reporters on a Tuesday call.

Environmental groups excoriated the effort to carve out exceptions for the pipeline as “immoral” and “unconscionable,” and some heaped blame on President Joe Biden’s administration as well as congressional lawmakers.

Keep reading here.

A woman stops to take a picture of the national debt clock in midtown Manhattan on May 25

The House of Representatives is on track to vote Wednesday on a bill to suspend the nation’s debt limit through January 1, 2025, as lawmakers race to prevent a catastrophic default.

If the House passes the bill as expected, it would next need to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. In the Senate, any one lawmaker can delay a swift vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told lawmakers to prepare for the possibility of votes Friday or over the weekend.

The timeframe to pass the bill through Congress is extremely tight and there is little room for error, putting enormous pressure on leadership in both parties.

Lawmakers are racing the clock to avert a first-ever default ahead of June 5, the date the Treasury Department has said it will no longer be able to pay all of the nation’s obligations in full and on time, a scenario that could trigger global economic catastrophe.

The bipartisan debt limit deal struck between the White House and House Republicans was announced over the weekend – the culmination of long days and late nights of contentious negotiations that at times looked like they might breakdown and fall apart entirely.

The effort to secure a debt limit deal has proven to be a major leadership test for both House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden.

What’s in the deal: Suspending the debt limit through 2025 takes the threat of default off table until after the presidential election. In addition to addressing the debt limit, the bill caps non-defense spending, expands work requirements for some food stamp recipients and claws back some Covid-19 relief funds, among other policy provisions.

The deal has faced backlash from lawmakers on the far left and the far right, but a significant number of members on both sides of the aisle – many of them moderates – have signaled they support the bill, a coalition that leaders in both chambers are expected to rely on to pass the legislation.

Read more details here.