The US House of Representatives cleared Republican-led legislation on Wednesday to raise the US' debt ceiling in exchange for cutting government spending after days of back-door negotiations.
The legislation, dubbed the Limit, Save Grow Act of 2023, narrowly cleared the lower chamber with a 217-215 vote. It now heads to the US Senate, where it's unlikely to sweep the upper house without issue.
The GOP-backed measure will raise the debt ceiling by some $1.5 trillion - or through the end of March 2024 - and cuts spending across the federal government's board. Data compiled by the Congressional Budget Office indicates cuts amount to an estimated $4.8 trillion.
Also included in the package is an annual spending growth limit of 1% over the next 10 years, an end to the Biden White House's student loan efforts, and up work requirements for federal aid programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Wednesday afternoon vote came to fruition hours after Republican officials made various last-minute pushes on the legislation in order to obtain votes from holdout party members.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, earlier Wednesday remarked that the Capitol Hill debates amounted to a "circus" being "in town this week," and added that "every minute wasted on Speaker McCarthy’s empty gesture is a minute we get closer to default."
Republican lawmakers anticipate the 320-page legislation will set the stage for talks later this year between Biden and McCarthy over the debt ceiling and federal funding initiatives as the legislation has little chance of becoming law.
The White House earlier blasted the bill, with the Office of Management and Budget relaying in a statement to the House chamber that the legislation is a "reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred."
Debt ceiling talks have been ongoing for months as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier announced the agency would be undertaking "extraordinary measures" to prevent a debt default; however, it was also stressed that the efforts could not be sustained long-term.
Yellen warned on Tuesday that the US economy remained at risk of enduring mass unemployment and see a potential collapse of the credit market as Americans will likely miss payments.