Joe Biden, President of the United States, delivered remarks on Friday night to celebrate the bipartisan approval of a bill that raised the debt ceiling. He said “the stakes couldn’t have been any higher.”
Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the House and the President were discussing a bipartisan compromise to raise the debt ceiling weeks before a possible default on June 5. The California Republican was pushing for spending reductions as a compromise. The Senate is sending the bill to Biden, and the White House says he will sign it as early as Saturday.
In his first address from the Oval Office, Biden said: “It is essential to all of the progress we have made in the past few years that the United States maintains its full faith and credit and passes a budget which continues to grow our nation’s economy and reflects the values we hold as a country.” “And that is why I am speaking to you this evening. Reporting on the crisis that was averted, and what we’re doing to protect America’s future. It was crucial to pass this budget agreement. “The stakes couldn’t have been any higher.”
Biden has hailed the passage of the legislation as a victory for Americans, even though neither party got everything they wanted. He said that the bill reflected his desire to not touch Social Security or Medicare.
Biden blamed “extreme voices” for threatening a potential default on the United States, referring to Republicans who wanted to link spending cuts with raising the debt limit.
“Nobody got everything they wanted, but the American people got exactly what they needed. We avoided an economic crisis or collapse. We are cutting spending, reducing deficits and protecting important priorities like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans as well as our transformational investments on infrastructure and clean energy,” Biden said.
The bill allows for the federal government’s debt to be unlimited until Jan. 1, 2025. Republicans were able push for a cap on non-defense discretionary expenditures at Fiscal Year 2020 levels. The bill also claws $28 billion of COVID-19 stimulus money that has not been spent and cuts $1.4 million in IRS funding.
