Was it easy? No. Was it part of a dangerous hostage crisis that didn’t have to happen? Yes. Should anyone fully exhale before the package is signed into law before the x-date deadline that is less than a week away? Certainly not. But Democratic and Republican leaders set out to reach a budget agreement, and as NBC News reported, they struck a deal late on Saturday night.
Key negotiators struck an agreement in principle Saturday night to extend the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default, just days before the Treasury Department said the U.S. could run out of money, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday. … It follows weeks of negotiations led by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, amid demands by the GOP to extract spending cuts in exchange for allowing the nation to continue to pay its bills.
The full legislative text was released yesterday, and a House vote is expected tomorrow. If it gets a simple majority in the lower chamber, it will still have to jump through some procedural hoops before receiving a vote in the Senate.
But as the dust settles on the weeks-long negotiating process, let’s pause to take stock of where things currently stand.
What’s in the deal?
As part of the agreement, the debt ceiling will be suspended until Jan. 1, 2025, at which point the Treasury Department would start using “extraordinary measures” to pay the nation’s bills — a process involving moving money around to prevent default — for several months. As for the budget, negotiators agreed to relatively modest spending caps for two years.
Also note, the parties agreed to make it easier for certain energy projects to get permits, and in an apparent nod to Sen. Joe Manchin, the package includes approval of a new gas pipeline in the conservative Democrat’s home state of West Virginia.
Does the bill cut spending?
Effectively, yes, though budget arithmetic can get a little tricky. As a New York Times report summarized, the deal “would limit all discretionary…
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