Returning from a long holiday weekend, elected representatives of the House of Representatives, controlled by the Republicans, begin to consider a budget bill resulting from the agreement reached Saturday to raise the ceiling of the US debt in exchange for budget cuts.

A crucial first meeting, that of the House Rules Committee, is scheduled for the afternoon and should give an indication of the state of the forces, as a fringe of conservative and progressive elected officials oppose the compromise reached over the weekend after marathon negotiations.

If all goes well, Kevin McCarthy has scheduled a vote in the House on Wednesday in plenary. It will then be the turn of the Senate, with a Democratic majority, to seize it.

Joe Biden, who is running for re-election in 2024 and plays his political credit in this case, continued Monday to consult all over the place to sell the agreement to his troops, according to a White House official.

US President Joe Biden in Washington, May 29, 2023 © Mandel NGAN / AFP

"It's looking good," he told reporters optimistically. "I will never say I'm confident about what Congress is going to do, but I feel things well."

On Sunday evening, he had "firmly" invited elected officials to adopt this legislation, the result of a compromise that he himself negotiated with the Republican opposition.

"The agreement avoids the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in the history of our country, an economic recession, devastated retirement savings accounts, millions of jobs lost," he said.

Tight schedule

Time is running out: the U.S. Treasury has set Monday, June 5, as the date from which the U.S. government may run out of money, unable to pay its debt and bills, pensions or salaries of federal employees.

Such a worst-case scenario would be unprecedented in the history of the United States and, according to economists, would have consequences at the global level.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on May 25, 2023 at the Capitol in Washington © SAUL LOEB / AFP

In broad outline, the agreement reached this weekend raises the public debt ceiling of the United States for two years, until after the 2024 presidential election. It is currently set at $31.400 trillion.

Non-defence spending will remain unchanged next year and increase only nominally in 2025.

It also provides for a $10 billion cut in funds allocated to tax services to modernize and strengthen controls, which was a demand of Republicans, as well as the recovery of funds allocated to the fight against Covid-19 and not yet spent.

The compromise also includes new conditions imposed to benefit from certain social benefits including food stamps, much to the chagrin of the Democrats.

'Insult'

Democratic and Republican leaders say they are confident that they will ultimately gather the votes necessary for the adoption of the text.

It was unveiled Sunday in detail, giving elected officials 72 hours to consult it in depth.

But the vote is not taken for granted and the text is the subject of fierce resistance from some elected officials on both sides.

Conservative Republicans have already announced their opposition to the text, such as Representative Dan Bishop, who vilified Mr. McCarthy for having "almost nothing".

Another Republican elected official, Matt Rosendale, called it an "insult to the American people."

On the left, progressive elected officials are showing skepticism, like Ro Khanna. According to him, many Democrats, opposed to budget cuts, "do not yet know" what their vote will be.

© 2023 AFP