United States: final sprint in the US Senate to raise the debt ceiling

The US Senate on Thursday engaged in a race against time to validate in turn an increase in the debt ceiling, and thus remove the threat of a default of the world's leading economic power. "The Senate will remain in session until we manage to pass a text," raising the maximum amount of debt of the country, promised Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who did not rule out the possibility of a vote this weekend. The bill examined in the Senate has already been validated Wednesday evening by a large majority of elected members of the House of Representatives.

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Tough negotiations

The result of fierce negotiations and torn from forceps, this agreement should make it possible to avoid the worst: that the country's coffers run dry on June 5, risking pushing the United States to default. This unprecedented situation would plunge into the unknown the American finance and economy but also, by extension, international. It is to avoid this potentially catastrophic scenario that Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives boss Kevin McCarthy have reached this compromise.

The bill makes it possible to raise for two years, so until after the presidential and legislative elections of 2024, the maximum amount of debt of the United States, currently at 31.400 trillion dollars. In exchange, the Democrats agreed to limit some spending, but not as much as the Republicans wanted.

'Not the luxury of waiting'

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The agreement adopted last night by the House is an encouraging step towards fiscal consolidation, but make no mistake, there is still much to do, "assured the Republican tenor in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. If he invited his peers to validate the agreement, several conservative senators have already announced that they will oppose the text. A major point of contention for the left, the compromise includes changes to the conditions imposed to benefit from certain social benefits. "I cannot, in good conscience, vote in favor of a bill that harms workers," said influential Senator Bernie Sanders.

The congressional staff, however, is confident, for now, that the 99-page text will be adopted. It is indeed very common for last-minute compromises to be reached on this type of dossier. But "the Senate does not have the luxury of waiting," Chuck Schumer insisted.