President Joe Biden and Republican leader in Congress Kevin McCarthy are putting the finishing touches this Sunday to their agreement announced the day before and which should allow the United States to avoid a cataclysmic default. "I'm about to call Kevin McCarthy at 15 p.m. (20 p.m. in France) so that everything is square and the dots are well on the i's," said the US president back in the early afternoon at the White House. And to add, for the benefit of journalists: "I think we are good".

After marathon negotiations, President Biden and the Republican leader announced Saturday night an agreement in principle on raising the US debt ceiling to remove the threat of bankruptcy from June 5. But the deal must be approved by a divided Congress and is already the subject of a sling of progressive and conservative elected officials some speaking of a "capitulation".

"New trajectory"

"It may not satisfy everyone but it is a step in the right direction that no one expected," defended Sunday the Republican leader on the Fox News channel, welcoming in particular a "new trajectory" to the downward given to public spending. He predicted that a "majority" of Republican elected officials would vote for the text. The House of Representatives, where Republicans have a flimsy 222-213 majority, will vote on Wednesday. Then comes the Senate, narrowly controlled by the Democrats (51-49).

President Biden welcomed Saturday night this "compromise" which is "good news, because it avoids what would have been a catastrophic default". Kevin McCarthy said he was "quite worthy of the American people."

Raising the debt ceiling

The text of the agreement has not yet been disclosed, but in its broad outline it 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 virtually 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, as well as the recovery of funds allocated to the fight against Covid-19 that have not yet been spent. The compromise also includes new conditions imposed to benefit from certain social benefits including food stamps.


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