What's next on the debt ceiling: Selling the plan and making a deal into a law

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have announced an “ agreement in principle ” to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.The agreement includes spending cuts demanded by Republicans, but it is short of the reductions in the sweeping legislation passed by the Republican-led House last month.To reduce spending, as Republicans had insisted, the package includes a two-year budget deal that would hold spending flat for 2024 and impose limits for 2025. That’s in exchange for raising the debt limit for two years, until after the next election.It also expands some work requirements for food-stamp recipients and tweaks an environmental law to try to streamline reviews to build new energy projects.Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling.A look at what’s next as Congress rushes to pass an agreement:FINALIZING THE DEALSpeaking to reporters in the Capitol late Saturday, McCarthy said the bill has “historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty into the workforce and rein in government overreach.
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