President Joe Biden waves from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Joe Biden waves from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden will address the nation Friday evening about averting a calamitous debt default.
The president notched another win after the Senate passed legislation he negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling for two years and cut federal spending.
“No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” Biden tweeted after the Senate vote Thursday night.
The address is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Watch it live here:
Passage comes just days ahead of when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the government would begin to run out of money to pay its bills.
It also ends months of tensions in Washington after Republicans refused to raise the debt limit unless Biden and the Democrats placed more restrictions on federal spending.
Biden intends to sign the bill “as soon as tomorrow,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday, explaining that the president needs to wait for the House and Senate to send him the bill, something that is not expected to be possible today.
The compromise would cut federal spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also imposes stricter work requirements for food stamps.
And it claws back money for the IRS and approximately $27 billion in funding to federal agencies intended to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Some far-right Republicans opposed the deal, arguing it didn’t cut enough spending while some hard-left Democrats said the increased work requirements could lead to more hunger.
But a majority of Republicans and Democrats came together to pass the legislation, ending months of partisan rancor and economic fears.
This story originally appeared on NPR
