WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan budget bill in a crucial first step toward averting a U.S. default.
H.R. 3746 – the "Bipartisan Budget Agreement" — passed with bipartisan support Wednesday evening.
With the vote of 314-117, the bill now heads to the Senate with passage expected by week's end.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-21, voted no.
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-22, voted yes.
"President Biden’s Bipartisan Budget Agreement protects the American people and our economy from the devastation of a Republican-driven default on our debt,” Frankel said in a statement. "Like any compromise, no one got everything they wanted, but I’m thankful President Biden successfully rejected Republicans' most extreme attacks on American seniors, veterans, and families. This agreement largely protects the critical lifelines everyday Americans rely on like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA benefits, and keeps the historic progress Democrats have made over the past two years in place. Now it’s time to get back to work."
The bill as passed suspends the debt ceiling until the beginning of 2025, puts caps on federal spending for the next two years, and adjusts certain policies, like instituting new work requirements for certain food aid recipients.
The Congressional Budget Office says the package would trim the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Raising the debt limit will ensure that the U.S. can continue to pay its debts, and avoid an unprecedented default.
President Joe Biden told reporters earlier on Wednesday he was confident the deal he had struck with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would survive its first big test in the House.
"I think things are going as planned," the president said before he left Washington to speak at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. "God willing by the time I land, Congress will have acted, the House will have acted, and we’ll be one step closer."
Democrats and Republicans have had to fight for support for the bill. Conservative Republicans are disappointed the bill doesn't make deeper spending cuts. Progressive Democrats took issue with work requirements for older Americans who are seeking food aid.
Passage, then, came down to a bipartisan group of centrists in the House.
Michael Linden, associate executive director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, said a compromise like that was going to be inevitable.
"Whenever you have divided government that has to be a bipartisan decision, and that's what this deal represents — a bipartisan compromise that neither side is going to be perfectly happy with, but both sides can live with," Linden said in an interview with Scripps News. "The key thing that this does is it prevents an economic catastrophe, and it allows Congress to get on with the work of serving the American people."
