US debt ceiling deal faces first test in Congress

House of Representatives Rules Committee to consider the bill, ahead of votes in Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democrat-controlled Senate

The bill would suspend the US debt limit through January 1, 2025, allowing Biden and lawmakers to set aside the politically risky issue until after 2024 presidential election

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The debt-limit agreement heads into a crucial final stretch before a June 5 default deadline.Photo: AFP

Published: 7:19pm, 30 May 2023Updated: 5:44am, 31 May 2023

A bipartisan deal to raise the US$31.4 trillion US debt ceiling faces its first test in Congress on Tuesday, setting up what could be a nail-biting week of voting before the United States runs out of money to pay its bills.

The House of Representatives Rules Committee is due to consider the 99-page bill at 3pm on Tuesday, ahead of votes in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Both Democratic President Joe Biden and the top Republican in Congress, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have predicted they will get enough votes to pass it into law before Monday, when the US Treasury Department says it will not have enough money to cover its obligations.

Representative Stephanie Bice, a Republican vote counter, said she was confident it would pass.

“It is a true negotiation and reflective of divided government,” she told reporters.