CHRIS MEGERIAN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden planned to discuss the contentious, just-passed budget deal in a speech to the nation Friday night, ready to sign the agreement averting the country's first-ever government default, which would have sent shock waves through the U.S. and global economies.
The measure was approved late Thursday night after passing the House in yet another late session the night before. Biden was expected to sign it at the White House on Saturday.
After days of default threats, the debt limit-budget agreement was worked out by Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, giving Republicans some of their spending-cut demands but holding the line on major Democratic priorities.
"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 said in a statement on Thursday.
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Biden's speech on Friday, scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT, will be the most extended remarks from the Democratic president on the compromise. He largely remained quiet publicly during negotiations, a decision that frustrated some members of his party but was intended to give space for both sides to reach a deal and for lawmakers to vote it to his desk.
Fast action was vital if Washington hoped to meet next Monday's deadline, when Treasury has said the U.S. will start running short of cash to pay its bills.
"There is a gravity, as you all can imagine, of this moment," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday, on why Biden was using the occasion to deliver his first address to the nation from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. "He just wanted to make sure that the American people understood how important it was to get this done, how important it was to do this in a bipartisan way."
The deal suspends the nation's debt limit until 2025, after the next presidential election, and ensures that the government can continue borrowing to pay already incurred U.S. debts.
Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose. Some environmental rules were modified to help streamline approvals for infrastructure projects.
The legislation also bolsters funds for defense and veterans, cuts back new money for Internal Revenue Service agents and rejects Biden's call to roll back Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy to help cover the nation's deficits. It imposes automatic overall 1% cuts if Congress fails approve its annual spending bills. The tally was 46 Democrats AND INDEPENDENTS and 17 Republicans in favor; 31 Republicans along with four Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats opposed.
The vote in the House was 314-117. In the Senate it was 63-36, including 46 Democrats and independents and 17 Republicans in favor, 31 Republicans along with four Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats opposed.
The Senate votes on the bill next.
President Joe Biden lays a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden pauses after laying a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden stands with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the national anthem is played at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden holds is hand on his heart as he stands with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley during the playing of "Taps," at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden stands with Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the national anthem is played before laying a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
President Joe Biden stands with Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as the national anthem is played before laying a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Susan Walsh
Krista Meinert touches the headstone of her son U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jacob Alexander Meinert as she visits his grave in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
People walk among the headstones as they visit Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Raphael Michel, 7, of Washington, visits the grave of a soldier that his father served with in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Eugene and Linda Lamie, of Homerville, Ga., sit by the grave of their son U.S. Army Sgt. Gene Lamie in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Flowers rest at the burial plot of former Secretary of State Colin Powell in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon
Ching Wagoner, of Roanoke, Va., visits the grave of her son U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Aiden Flores Wagoner in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Alex Brandon