US House of Representatives approves debt ceiling project with no prospect of success

The Republican-majority Lower House of the United States approved a bill on Wednesday to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for extensive cuts in public spending, although the initiative has few prospects of prospering in the Senate, where Democrats are most.

The project seeks to respond to one of the country’s most urgent challenges, which last January reached the limit to the money that the Government can legally borrow, which threatens to lead the world’s largest economy to default on its public debt. .

The initiative, which according to the White House will be vetoed by the US president, Joe Biden, if it reaches his table, was approved with the direct rejection of progressive legislators and the votes of 217 conservatives, who have a very tight majority in the chamber.

The approval comes despite the doubts of the last hours, since it seemed that the Republican leader of the Lower House, Kevin McCarthy, did not have all the necessary support within his own party to move the project forward.

Finally, and thanks to last-minute concessions, the conservative managed to get 217 of the body’s 222 conservative representatives to give their support to the measure, which is now heading to the Senate.

Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for the text approved by the Republicans to become law, the passage in the House of Representatives puts pressure on Biden and the Democratic Party to negotiate a compromise that allows raising or suspending the debt ceiling before it the country is doomed to default.

“(Biden) should sit down and negotiate. We have approved this. We are well ahead of the deadline. We are the only party that has taken action”, McCarthy said in a press conference after the vote.

For conservatives, McCarthy’s plan, which includes raising the debt limit to $1.5 trillion while proposing $4.5 trillion in cuts, is the best way to avoid the catastrophic consequences of a default while also Reduce the size of the central government.

Democrats warn that the bill only seeks to give more money to the rich while reducing essential social benefits for the most vulnerable people.

Although the regulation does not specify all the programs or agencies that would have to see its reduced budget, it does propose eliminating several initiatives to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles and the transition to renewable energies, two of the key points of the large spending package that the Democrats passed last summer, known as the Inflation Reduction Law.

In addition, it proposes to end Biden’s star programs, such as the cancellation of student debt, while tightening the conditions to access health and food aid resources, among other measures.

In a White House message issued shortly after the measure was approved, government spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre assured that “the president has made it clear that this bill has no chance of becoming law”.

“Republicans in Congress must act immediately and without strings attached to prevent a default”, added the spokeswoman, who quoted the words of former conservative president Ronald Reagan about the “special responsibility” that the United States has to “fulfill their obligations”.

In January, when the United States reached its current debt ceiling of US$31.4 trillion, the Treasury Department approved a series of “extraordinary measures” to delay the risk of default. These financial tools are scheduled to expire on June 5.

Many analysts warn that defaulting on the debt could lead the United States into an immediate recession. Since the 1970s, the US Congress has approved raising or suspending the debt ceiling at least 78 times.

Source: EFE