After days of negotiations, the White House and the opposition are closing in on an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
Democrats and Republicans inched towards a deal Friday, ahead of a long weekend, to extend the US debt ceiling and avoid a crippling default that could hit the world’s biggest economy within days.
As the Treasury’s estimated deadline of next Thursday for the government running out of money loomed, there were glimmers of optimism in Washington that the two sides will finally compromise.
According to unconfirmed US media reports, this would include agreement to cover the $31 trillion — and growing — US debt for two years, meaning no repeat of the current drama before the 2024 presidential election.
Democrats would offer concessions on demands for sweeping spending limits on social safety and other domestic programs passed in the Republican “Limit, Save, Grow Act” in April, but dismissed by leaders in the Democratic-majority Senate as “extreme.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in Congress, told reporters negotiators had “made progress” on Thursday but added: “Nothing is agreed to until it’s all agreed to.”
“We passed a bill. Nobody else in Washington has. It raises the debt limit, it curves back our spending, brings back wasteful money and actually unshackles what’s holding us back,” he added.
Pressure to reach some sort of arrangement and authorize the government to borrow more money needed for existing commitments is deepening.
According to the Treasury, next Thursday is when the government coffers could run dry — leaving some domestic bills, and international creditors, unpaid.
Marie de La Roche Saint-André, with AFP
