WASHINGTON - Veering away from a default crisis, the House overwhelmingly approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, sending the deal that President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated to the Senate for swift passage in a matter of days, before a fast-approaching deadline.
The hard-fought compromise pleased few, but lawmakers assessed it was better than the alternative - a devastating economic upheaval if Congress failed to act. Tensions ran high as hard-right Republicans refused the deal, but Biden and McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition to push to passage on a robust 314-117 vote late Wednesday.
“We did pretty dang good,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said afterward.
Amid deep discontent from Republicans who said the spending restrictions did not go far enough, McCarthy said it is only a “first step.”
Biden, watching the tally from Colorado Springs where Thursday he is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy, phoned McCarthy and the other congressional leaders after the vote. In a statement, he called the outcome “good news for the American people and the American economy.”
Washington is rushing after a long slog of debate to wrap up work on the package to ensure the government can keep paying its bills, and prevent financial upheaval at home and abroad. Next Monday is when the Treasury has said the U.S. would run short of money and risk a dangerous default.
Biden had been calling lawmakers directly to shore up backing. McCarthy worked to sell skeptical fellow Republicans, even fending off challenges to his leadership.
A similar bipartisan effort from Democrats and Republicans will be needed in the Senate to overcome objections.
Overall, the 99-page bill would make some inroads in curbing the nation’s deficits as Republicans demanded, without rolling back Trump-era tax breaks as Biden wanted. To pass it, Biden and McCarthy counted on support from the political center, a rarity in divided Washington.
A compromise, the package restricts spending for the next two years, suspends the debt ceiling into January 2025 and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose. It bolsters funds for defense and veterans, and guts new money for Internal Revenue Service agents.
Raising the nation’s debt limit, now $31 trillion, ensures Treasury can borrow to pay already incurred U.S. debts.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of R-Calif., speaks as House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R.La., left, and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., listen at a news conference after the House passed the debt ceiling bill at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The bill now goes to the Senate. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walks to the House chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, before the House voted to pass the debt limit bill. AP PHOTO/JOSE LUIS MAGANA
President Joe Biden walks to Marine One after talking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Biden is traveling to Colorado. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, joined at rear by Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., a top mediator in the debt limit talks, leaves the chamber after passage of a crucial procedural vote on the debt ceiling and budget cuts package they negotiated, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The U.S. faces a potentially disastrous U.S. default in less than a week if Congress fails to act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., joined from left by Rep. Ted Lieu D-Calif., the Democratic Caucus vice chair, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., the Democratic Caucus chair, and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the Democratic whip, talks to reporters about the closed-door meeting they had with fellow Democrats on the debt limit deal, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The agreement negotiated by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden, will be voted on in the House later tonight. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., arrives to lead the House Democratic Caucus before today's vote on the debt limit deal negotiated by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Progressive Caucus, arrives as the House Democratic Caucus meets before a vote on the debt limit deal negotiated by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The U.S. Capitol is seen on a sunset Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at Capitol Hill in Washington. After passage of a crucial procedural vote on the debt ceiling and budget cuts package negotiated between Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden the U.S. still faces a potentially disastrous U.S. default in less than a week if Congress fails to act. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)