4-6-2023 (WASHINGTON) – President Joe Biden has signed a bill that temporarily suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, avoiding a potential default just two days before the deadline. The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation earlier this week, after a controversial negotiation period involving Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans.
Now, we continue the work of building the strongest… pic.twitter.com/42HIFBy8Y9
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 3, 2023
The Treasury Department had previously warned that it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday if Congress had failed to act. Biden signed the bill at the White House, following his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president, in which he praised the bipartisan triumph. The bill signing was closed to the press and marked a low-key, symbolic end to a crisis that had plagued Washington for months, forced Biden to cut short an international trip in Asia, and threatened to push the United States to the brink of an unprecedented economic crisis.
The White House released a statement thanking Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership in resolving the issue. The statement named the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate, respectively. Officials later released a ten-second clip of Biden silently signing the document at the White House.
Biden said on Friday that it was critical to reach an agreement, and that the news was good for the American people, even though no one got everything they wanted. The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.
Despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations, Fitch Ratings said on Friday that the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch. The temporary suspension of the debt ceiling will expire on December 3, 2021, and Congress will have to address the issue once again to prevent a potential default.
