CNN
—
President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill to suspend the nation’s debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025, to avoid a first U.S. default.
“I just signed a bipartisan budget deal that avoids a first default while reducing the deficit, protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and fulfilling our fearful obligation to our veterans,” Biden. he said in a tweetwhich was accompanied by a short video of him signing the bill.
“Now, we continue to work to build the strongest economy in the world,” the president added.
Suspending the debt limit until early 2025 takes the threat of a default off the table until after next year’s presidential election. In addition to addressing the debt limit, the law limits non-defense spending, extends work requirements for some food stamp recipients and restores some Covid-19 relief funds, among other policy provisions .
The bipartisan agreement to address the debt limit was reached between the White House and House Republicans — the culmination of long days and nights of contentious negotiations that at times looked like they might break down and collapse entirely.
To get the bill to the finish line, lawmakers raced the clock before June 5, when the Treasury Department had warned it would no longer be able to pay all of the nation’s obligations in full and on time, a scenario that could have caused global economic catastrophe.
The deadline for passing the bill in Congress was extremely tight, with little margin for error, and put enormous pressure on the leadership of both parties. The House passed the bill on Wednesday and the Senate passed it on Thursday.
Once agreed upon, the deal faced backlash from both the far left and the far right, but ultimately won support from a wide range of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, many of them moderates.
This story has been updated with additional reaction.
