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The debt-limit agreement forged by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy heads into a crucial final stretch with less than a week to win congressional passage before a June 5 default deadline. Biden and McCarthy spent much of the Memorial Day holiday lobbying members of their respective parties to build enough support ahead of a House vote expected Wednesday.
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If the two leaders can overcome expected opposition from their flanks, the deal goes to the Senate, where a single objection risks triggering time-consuming procedures that threaten to bring the US right to the brink of a first-ever default. “I never say I’m confident about what the Congress is going to do, but I feel very good about it,” Biden told reporters Monday.
Why it matters
Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said early Tuesday that the measure has clear momentum in his party. Treasuries rallied, with yields on the securities set to mature when the government was most at risk of a default tumbling in European trading. Two-year yields were down about 4 basis points. Stock futures advanced, with contracts on the S&P 500 up 0.5% as of 7:29 a.m. in New York.
