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With 63 votes in favor and 36 votes against, on the evening of June 1 (local time), the US Senate passed a bill to suspend the policy of applying the public debt ceiling, thereby avoiding the first debt default disaster in US history.
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| The US Capitol building on the night of June 1 when the Senate voted to pass a debt ceiling bill to avoid the first debt default in the country's history. Photo: REUTERS |
In a statement, President Joe Biden praised the timely action of Congress, emphasizing: “This bipartisan agreement is a big win for the economy and the people.” Mr. Biden also announced that he would sign the bill into law as soon as possible.
According to US media, the debt ceiling bill will be sent to President Biden to sign into law in the context that there are only a few days left until the June 5 deadline as warned by the US Treasury Department for the parties to reach an agreement to suspend the application of the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling before the federal budget runs out. A day earlier, with 314 votes in favor and 117 votes against, the US House of Representatives also passed the above bill and sent it to the Senate for consideration. President Biden urged the Senate to quickly pass the bill so that he can sign it into law.
On May 27, after weeks of negotiations on the debt ceiling and budget spending, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement. According to the agreement, the two sides agreed to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling for two years, until January 1, 2025; limit budget spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, accordingly, in fiscal year 2024, $886 billion will be allocated for the defense budget and $704 billion for non-defense items.
Overall non-defense spending remains unchanged in fiscal 2024. The two sides agreed to increase non-defense spending by 1% in fiscal 2025. In addition, the two sides agreed to recover unused Covid-19 funds; speed up the licensing process for some energy projects; and increase eligibility for pro-poor programs.
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