Bill to raise debt ceiling passes days before default | First Thing

The House passed a deal brokered by Joe Biden and Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy with a final vote of 314 to 117

Good morning.

The House passed a bill yesterday to raise the debt ceiling until January 2025, clearing a major legislative hurdle with just days left before the US was expected to default.

Though more Democrats than Republicans voted for the deal, key Democratic programs and priorities will feel the effects.

An estimated 750,000 could lose food stamp benefits due to the new work requirements, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive thinktank.

While the bill also gives special treatment to the Mountain Valley pipeline and cut a quarter of the $80bn of newly allotted funding to refurbish the IRS, it preserves Medicaid benefits, social security and other programs.

Both McCarthy and Biden are counting the bill as a win, with McCarthy saying it will herald the “largest savings in American history”. “Neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said. “That’s the responsibility of governing.”

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has already put the bill on the calendar to start the process today, even as Senate progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders, have indicated they plan to oppose it. Still, the bill is likely to pass.