Biden, McCarthy Come to Provisional Deal to Raise $31.4T Debt Ceiling Just Days Until Default

After months of bickering and stagnant negotiations between President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a tentative deal was announced on Saturday night that would extend the borrowing limit to 2025. But now comes the hard part – getting Congress to approve.

Biden and McCarthy reportedly spoke by phone for 90 minutes on Saturday evening to finalize the deal. “We’ve come to an agreement in principle that is worthy of the American people,” McCarthy tweeted just before 9 p.m. In a news conference that evening, McCarthy said there was “more work to do tonight to finish all the writing of it.” He’s pledged to release the text of the agreement sometime on Sunday.

In a statement, Biden called the deal “an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone.” He urged the House and Senate to immediately pass the agreement. 

On Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote a letter to congressional leaders, warning that the government would not be able to meet its fiscal obligations if a deal wasn’t reached by June 5. A default, she wrote, would “cause severe hardship to American families.” That prospect is still a possibility if both chambers fail to pass the agreement. 

McCarthy says he’ll give House members three days to read the bill before it comes to a vote on Wednesday. The agreement, if passed this week, “would largely freeze non-defense discretionary funding in the fiscal year that kicks off in October, revive the threat of across-the-board cuts, and impose the most substantive restrictions in decades on the country’s leading anti-hunger program,” Politico reported. 

But McCarthy will likely have to wrangle a divided House caucus, where far-right Republicans have already vowed to sink the deal. To gain the speaker’s gavel, McCarthy agreed to allow any single member to call for a vote to unseat him, which could lead to Republicans holding his feet to the fire if he tries to work with Democrats. 

On Twitter, Freedom Caucus member and Texas Congressman Chip Roy pledged to “try” to stop the bill from getting through the House. “Punting at your opponent’s one-yard line isn’t a winning strategy,” wrote Republican Congressman Mike Lee. And on Fox News, Senator Lindsay Graham said he “will not be intimidated” by the June 5 deadline. In a press conference Sunday morning, McCarthy claimed “over 95%” of House Republicans “were overwhelmingly excited about what they see.” 

McCarthy will likely need some support from House Democrats, some of whom have said they’d refuse to accept any deal that cuts social programs or imposes stricter restrictions on government services. On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries avoided questions on how many Democrats may ultimately vote for the compromise bill, but said he expects to get Democratic support.