Democrats and Republicans confident they can pass deal to avert US default

Republican leaders and the White House have secured key mainstream lawmakers’ support for their deal to prevent a damaging default on US debt, boosting confidence that the treaty could be swiftly approved by Congress.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden have little room for error to ensure passage of the bipartisan pact they agreed to late Saturday after days of heated negotiations.

The deal immediately triggered a backlash from right-wing conservatives.

Chip Roy of Texas called it a “turd sandwich”, Ralph Norman of South Carolina said it was “insane”, and Dan Bishop of North Carolina described it with a green vomit emoji as “scaring”. The deal could face an uphill battle at Capital. hill.

But moderate lawmakers from the Republican and Democratic parties indicated they would support the agreement, suggesting there is enough support to pass into law.

“With a divided government, the only way forward is through compromise and putting the interests of the American people above all,” Mike Lawler, a House Republican from a swing district north of New York City, said in a statement.

“We in Congress don’t do anything easy. There may always be a torturous road to get there, but I’m pretty confident we’re going to get it,” Dusty Johnson, a Republican from South Dakota, told the Financial Times.

He said the response from the majority of House Republicans was “quite strong” and that the votes of members “on the fringes” of the party were “never in play”.

Johnson also defended the deal on its merits. “This bill is a series of fairly conservative victories – there is no way in which this bill moves American society in a more liberal or progressive way than the status quo,” he said.

The first crucial test will be a vote in the House on Wednesday. The Senate is about to follow up on a vote that could slip into next weekend. If no legislation is enacted by June 5, the US will run out of cash to pay all its bills, which could spook financial markets and push the US and global economies into recession.

House members are expected to return to Washington on Tuesday after a Memorial Day long weekend before the vote. McCarthy has too little of a majority in the House to do the job, but will be able to count on the support of some Democrats to compensate for Republican defection.

Many lawmakers are still undecided and are holding off on a decision until they have more time to study the bill. According to the White House, Biden was speaking with members of Congress ahead of the vote.

He said, ‘There is still a lot of work to be done for the floor vote here. That’s the point of having such a small majority. Even the most routine measure has the potential to become a painful cliffhanger, said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist at Penta Group, a consultancy in Washington.

Most policy analysts are still expecting the bill to pass.

Ben Koltun of Beacon Policy Advisors, referring to one effort, said, “While there are some disgruntled far-right members, most conservatives are invested in getting the deal done and have little interest in proposing a default or vacate the chair.” ” To deny McCarthy his right to speak.

“It’s going to blow right up without question,” predicted James Lussier, a managing director at Capital Alpha.

On the Democratic side, there has been some progressive handshakes about some of the concessions agreed to by Biden. But expressions of support, even if half-hearted, rolled in on Sunday.

Annie Custer of New Hampshire said, “Our members are encouraged that the two sides have reached an agreement, and are confident that President Biden and White House negotiators have found a viable, bipartisan solution to end this crisis.” Have given.” Democrat.

Most of the drama is expected to be on the Republican side. The first hurdle is likely to be a vote in the House Rules Committee, which includes many GOP opponents of the bill who may try to block it.

External pressure can also be a reason. Former President Donald Trump, who still dominates Republicans, previously told lawmakers to default in the absence of deep spending cuts.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Fox & Friends that even after the deal “our country will still be headed for bankruptcy”.

“I think we’ve got ourselves on a trajectory here, really since March of 2020, with some of the covid spending, it reset the budget completely. And they stick to that. And I think that would be totally insufficient to put us in a better position.

Both are candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. But Republican National Committee chairwoman and Trump ally Ronna McDaniel was upbeat about the deal, calling it a “dramatic victory” for McCarthy.

“Before they passed their history-changing bill, no one believed it would be possible to cut spending, re-establish job requirements, improve energy and infrastructure,” he told Fox News in an interview on Sunday. It is possible to allow correction for