The U.S. House of Representatives is moving toward a Wednesday evening vote on legislation to suspend the government’s borrowing limit until early 2025, a Washington political showdown occurring just five days before the country could run out of money to pay its bills.

The measure suspending the government’s current $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is likely to be approved. But far-right Republican lawmakers are continuing to assail the deal negotiated by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for not cutting enough in future government spending, while some progressive Democrats say it trims too much.

The contentious fight over the legislation is also turning into a test of McCarthy’s hold on the top leadership post in the House, which he won in January after 15 rounds of voting and after he promised archconservatives a greater say in attempting to rein in government budgets. The U.S. chronically records annual trillion-dollar deficits, adding to the long-term debt total.

Under informal Republican rules managing the House with a narrow majority, McCarthy has pledged to not bring up legislation for a full House vote without the support of at least 111 members of his 222-member Republican caucus. He has said he expects at least 150 Republicans will support the debt ceiling suspension, but the figure is uncertain, with the most vocal Republicans in the far-right Freedom Caucus attacking McCarthy for supposedly caving to Biden in the negotiations.

If McCarthy were to lose 111 Republicans on the debt ceiling vote, at least 107 of the 213 House Democrats would need to support it for the legislation to pass and be sent to the Senate for consideration later in the week, and eventually Biden’s signature at the White House.

“House Democrats are going to make sure the country doesn’t default. Period. Full stop,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters early Wednesday.

One Freedom Caucus member, Representative Ken Buck, acknowledged to NBC News that the conservative lawmakers do not have enough votes to kill the legislation.

“The nation will not default,” Buck said.

But he and other Republicans have voiced skepticism about the legitimacy of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s warning that the government will run out of money next Monday to meet all its financial obligations, including cash to pay interest on government bonds, pensions to older Americans and salaries to the military and government workers. 

The House Rules Committee sent the legislation to the full House on a 7-6 vote Tuesday night that showed some of that discontent, with two Republicans voting against advancing the bill.

The proposal before Congress includes waiving the existing borrowing limit until January 2025 and a two-year budget deal that keeps federal spending flat in 2024 and increases it by 1% in 2025. The measure does not raise taxes, nor will it stop the national debt total from continuing to increase, perhaps by another $3 trillion or more over the next year and a half.

Other pieces of the legislation include a reduction in the number of new agents hired by the country’s tax collection agency, a requirement that states return $30 billion in unspent coronavirus pandemic assistance to the federal government and extending from 50 to 54 the upper age bracket for those required to work in order to receive food aid.  

Some liberal Democratic lawmakers have objected to the deal, saying it cuts too much in social welfare spending or holds some programs at a flat spending level. Republicans say it allows for more spending than legislation they approved weeks ago calling for steeper cuts and a debt ceiling extension of less than a year totaling about $1.5 trillion.

Biden insisted on a new debt ceiling that extended beyond the November 2024 presidential election in which he is seeking a second four-year term, so the current contentious debate would not be repeated during the political campaign next year. 

One Republican critic of the debt ceiling legislation, Representative Dan Bishop, complained Tuesday about the length of the debt ceiling extension.

“It removes the issue from the national conversation during the presidential election to come,” Bishop said. “How could you more successfully kneecap any Republican [presidential candidate] than to take that issue out of his or her hands?”

Biden and McCarthy have both, respectively, been lobbying Democrats and Republicans to pass the measure.

“The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis — a default — for the first time in our nation’s history,” Biden said at the White House last weekend. It “takes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table.”    

“The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. But that’s the responsibility of governing,” Biden said in a statement.

McCarthy called the bill the “most conservative deal we’ve ever had.”
…

The Kenyan government says it has entered or plans to enter labor agreements with Canada, Germany, the United States, and certain Persian Gulf nations. The agreements aim to ease the path for Kenyans to work overseas. But advocates for workers’ rights say such agreements, especially with Gulf nations, leave workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Mohammed Yusuf reports.
…

«Кошти підуть на підтримку державного бюджету, зокрема соціальні та гуманітарні видатки»
…

Як ідеться в пресрелізі, Україна виконала «всі кількісні критерії ефективності на кінець квітня та структурні маяки на кінець травня»
…

Із 2 травня до 5 червня діє заборона від Єврокомісії на постачання пшениці, кукурудзи, ріпаку та насіння соняшнику з України до пʼяти країн – Болгарії, Угорщини, Польщі, Румунії та Словаччини
…

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are starting Tuesday to consider legislation to suspend the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until early 2025 so it can borrow more money to keep paying the country’s bills.

Both Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who negotiated the debt ceiling deal, are urging its passage and say they think they have the votes to win. But some liberal Democratic lawmakers are complaining that it cuts too much in social welfare spending, while conservative Republicans are grumbling that it trims too little.

First up is a vote Tuesday afternoon in the 13-member House Rules Committee, which typically sets the terms of the debate by the full House, such as whether amendments can be offered on any legislation. Approval by the panel, with nine Republicans and four Democrats, is normally just a procedural step to advance legislation favored by McCarthy to the full 435-member House.

But two of the Republicans named to the committee by McCarthy as he won the top House position in January have already declared their opposition to the increase in the debt limit. That could presage a close tally by the panel on advancing the measure, depending on how the four Democratic lawmakers on the committee vote.

In politically divided Washington, the four Democrats have typically rejected advancing any measure favored by McCarthy and Republicans, but in this case, the debt ceiling agreement was reached by Biden’s negotiators with McCarthy and his associates.

McCarthy said on Monday he was not worried the Rules Committee would kill the bill.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told Congress the measure must pass by June 5, the point at which she says the government will run out of cash to pay its bills and would sustain the country’s first-ever default. Analysts say a default would lead to a cut in the country’s top-of-the-line AAA credit rating, roil world stock markets, and force the government to decide which bills to pay.

Assuming the House Rules Committee advances the legislation, McCarthy has set a full House vote for Wednesday, with the Senate planning to vote later in the week.

Representative Stephanie Bice, a Republican vote counter, said she is confident the measure will pass.

“It is a true negotiation and reflective of divided government,” she told reporters, referencing the fact that Democrats control the White House and Senate, while Republicans hold an edge in the House.

The proposal includes waiving the existing borrowing limit until January 2025 and a two-year budget deal that keeps federal spending flat in the fiscal year starting in October and increases it by 1% in the following 12 months into 2025.

Other pieces of the compromise package include a reduction in the hiring of more agents at the country’s tax collection agency, a requirement that states return $30 billion in unspent coronavirus pandemic assistance to the federal government and extending from 50 to 54 the upper age bracket for those required to work in order to receive food aid.

“The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default, for the first time in our nation’s history,” Biden said at the White House on Sunday. It “takes the threat of a catastrophic default off the table.”

“The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. But that’s the responsibility of governing,” Biden said in a statement. He called the pact “an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone.”

McCarthy, discussing the deal at the Capitol, said, “At the end of the day, people can look together to be able to pass this.”

He told the “Fox News Sunday” show that from Republicans’ perspective, “There’s so much in this that is positive. It will not do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction.”
…