The House of Representatives is on track to vote Wednesday night on a bill to suspend the nation’s debt limit through January 1, 2025, as Congress races to prevent a catastrophic default. If the House passes the bill tonight as expected, it would next need to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. In the Senate, any one Senator can delay a swift vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has told lawmakers to prepare for the possibility of votes Friday or over the weekend. As expected, the timeframe to pass the bill through Congress is extremely tight and there is little room for error, putting enormous pressure on leadership in both parties. To muster a 218-vote majority to push the bill through the closely divided House, congressional leaders must cobble together a coalition of Republicans willing to back it and enough Democrats to make up for what is shaping up to be a substantial number of G.O.P. defections, which now stand at 30. Speaker McCarthy and his lieutenants predicted they would be able to do so and scheduled a final vote for 8:30 Wednesday night, well after markets have closed to prevent market turmoil.
The agreement would suspend the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit through January 1, 2025. This removes it as a potential issue in the 2024 presidential election, and would also:
*Cap non-defense spending: Under the deal, non-defense spending would remain relatively flat in fiscal 2024 and increase by 1% in fiscal 2025, after certain adjustments to appropriations were made. After fiscal 2025, there would be no budget caps.
*Cut Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding: House Republicans have been determined to jettison money allotted to the IRS to fight fraud. The debt ceiling bill does that, rescinding $1.4 billion in IRS funding.
*Expand work requirements: The agreement calls for temporarily broadening of work requirements for certain adults receiving food stamps.
*Claw back some COVID-19 relief funds: The deal would rescind roughly $28 billion in unobligated funds from the COVID-19 relief packages that Congress passed to respond to the pandemic.
*Restart student loan repayments: Under the deal, borrowers would have to begin paying back their student loans at the end of the summer. The pause has been in effect and extended a number of times since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
*Expedite a pipeline in West Virginia: The agreement would also speed the creation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia.
For today, the Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and while it awaits action on the debt ceiling, it will consider the Motion to proceed to H.J.Res.45, Student Loans CRA, which would overturn President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan and also end the pause on student loan payments.
The House convened at 2:00 P.M. and while leadership works to secure votes on the debt ceiling legislation, it will consider two bills under suspension of the Rules: H.R. 2797 – Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act of 2023 and H. Res. 382 – Condemning the rise of antisemitism and calling on elected officials to identify and educate others on the contributions of the Jewish American community.
