Posted on 06/03/23
| News Source: Washington Post
Two days before the Treasury Department estimated it would run out of money to pay the nation’s debts, President Biden signed into law today a bill that suspends the debt ceiling, cuts federal spending and avoids a government default as part of a deal that ended months of partisan wrangling.
In an Oval Office address on Friday night, Biden said that in addition to avoiding the dire financial consequences of a default, the measure would maintain gains from the wide-ranging agenda he had pushed through during his first two years in office.
And it bolstered the argument that is expected to be at the heart of his pitch for a second term: that he is a seasoned, competent leader who is able to deliver results in a polarized nation.
“Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,” Biden said. “No one got everything they wanted, but the American people got what they needed. We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.”
The White House announced his signature to the measure with little fanfare. A statement thanked the top House and Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle “for their partnership.”
The passage of the budget agreement had the additional benefit for Biden of postponing any additional debt limit standoffs until after the 2024 election.
The debt measure joins other bipartisan bills from Biden’s presidency, including measures that invested in the nation’s infrastructure, bolstered semiconductor manufacturing, addressed gun violence and helped veterans exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.