Övünç Kutlu
27 April 2023•Update: 27 April 2023
ISTANBUL
The US House of Representatives passed a Republican bill late Wednesday to increase the debt limit and trim government spending.
The narrow vote of 217-215 saw four Republicans joining the Democrats against party lines but every Democrat voting against it.
The bill was a victory for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California.
McCarthy last Wednesday proposed raising the US debt limit by $1.5 trillion in order to avoid a default for the world's biggest economy, two days after criticizing President Joe Biden for refusing to negotiate the issues surrounding extending the debt limit.
"House Republicans just passed the only plan in Washington that 1. Lifts the debt ceiling 2. Stops wasteful spending and inflation 3. Puts America back on track. Now Democrats should do their job," McCarthy wrote on Twitter.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly urged Congress in recent months to suspend or raise the debt limit to avoid a default on government obligations.
The American economy hit its debt ceiling on Jan. 19, and Yellen said her agency has started taking "extraordinary measures" to avoid a default.
The US has never defaulted on its debt, while the debt ceiling has been raised 22 times between 1997 and 2022.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the bill by House Republicans "cuts veterans’ healthcare, education, Meals on Wheels and public safety, takes away healthcare from millions of Americans and sends manufacturing jobs overseas.”
"President Biden will never force middle class and working families to bear the burden of tax cuts for the wealthiest, as this bill does. The President has made clear this bill has no chance of becoming law," she said in a written statement released shortly after the passing of the bill.
Noting that the US has "never defaulted on our debt or failed to pay our bills," she said "Congressional Republicans must act immediately and without conditions to avoid default and ensure that the full faith and credit of the United States is not put at risk."
