President Biden is set to tout passage of the debt limit bill he negotiated with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in an Oval Office address Friday night.
The president is set to speak to the nation on the heels of the bill passing through the House on Wednesday evening and the Senate late Thursday. Biden is expected to sign it ahead of a Monday default deadline.
After months of refusing to negotiate with the GOP Speaker over spending cuts, Biden and McCarthy began negotiating in earnest last month, as Treasury leaders shared dire projections about a fiscal crisis in early June.
The deal passed this week suspends the debt limit until January 2025, meaning the country will avoid defaulting on its debts, and includes concessions from both sides.
Biden ultimately agreed to some spending limits, which could reduce projected federal deficits by around $1.5 trillion over the next decade, and new work requirements for certain government assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks, Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis described the deal as a win for Biden:
“In the end, Biden didn’t have to make any huge concessions. Even on the food stamps issue, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the government could spend more money on nutrition assistance under the deal because of provisions negotiated to increase access for veterans, the homeless and other vulnerable groups.”
The deal was also a win for McCarthy in many respects, with a majority of Republicans backing the agreement even as a group of hardline conservatives criticized it for not going far enough.
In addition to avoiding default, the nation avoided a downgrading of its credit rating, although prominent agency Fitch Ratings is keeping the country’s top credit rating on its “negative watch” list, The Hill’s Aris Folley reports.
Fitch said “repeated political standoffs” over the debt ceiling and “last-minute suspensions” lower “confidence in governance on fiscal and debt matters.” The agency said “reducing fiscal deficits modestly over the next two years” is a positive of the deal.
During the 2011 debt ceiling saga, Standard & Poor downgraded the nation’s AAA credit rating for the first time.
The president is scheduled to address the nation about the deal at 7 p.m. ET. Watch the address here.
