Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised President Joe Biden for coming to a debt ceiling agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and told senators to prepare for a vote later this week.
Schumer made the statement in a ‘dear colleagues’ letter to his fellow Democrats on Sunday. The caucus will meet over the phone to discuss the specifics of the budget deal later Sunday and early this week, he said in the letter.
‘I salute President Biden for protecting the American economy and delivering for American families by taking the threat of default off the table,’ Schumer wrote. ‘I look forward to seeing the language of the agreement and reviewing it carefully.’
‘These have been a difficult few weeks given how intransigent and extreme the MAGA Republicans are, but nonetheless we must avoid default and its grave consequences for the American people,’ he added.
McCarthy also noted a warning from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the U.S. would not be able to pay its debts beyond June 5 if Congress does not act.
McCarthy has vowed that lawmakers in the House will get 72 hours to review the text of the agreement before voting on it, pushing back the Senate process to later this week.
Biden’s White House team negotiated with Republican leadership throughout the weekend before announcing an ‘agreement in principle’ on Sunday. The speaker defended that agreement in an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday.’
‘Maybe it doesn’t do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction that no one thought that we would be able to today,’ McCarthy told host Shannon Bream.
‘I’ll debate this bill with anybody,’ he continued. ‘Is it everything I wanted? No, because we don’t control all of it. But it is the biggest rescission in history. It is the biggest cut Congress has ever voted for in that process.’
Several Republicans remain opposed to the legislation, most of them within the House Freedom Caucus. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, blasted the bill for not cutting the vast majority of Biden’s push to expand the IRS, among other things.