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House lawmakers passed a bill to suspend the debt ceiling, enabling the U.S. to pay off its bills while also cutting federal spending going forward.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 passed the House in a bipartisan 314-117 vote Wednesday night, with just days to spare and concessions on both sides, as NPR has reported.
It establishes spending caps for the federal budget and implements policy changes, including clawing back some $27 billion in funding to federal agencies intended to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and phasing in higher age limits for work requirements on certain federal safety net programs, like food stamps.
President Biden called it a «critical step forward to prevent a first-ever default,» and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said lawmakers «made history» with the scope of their savings.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected a total deficit reduction of $1.5 trillion over the next decade, though that doesn’t take into account several «agreed-upon adjustments» that would increase federal spending in the coming months.
Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy director of the National Economic Council — which advises the president on economic policy — says the administration’s view is that the bill takes the possibility of default off the table, protects entitlement programs like social security and Medicare, and helps preserve economic progress from the last few years.
«We think we were able to secure some of our key priorities, and if the speaker thinks that he got what he’s wanted to get out of this, that’s why you see bipartisan support for the deal both in the House and hopefully the Senate,» Ramamurti told Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel on Thursday.
