President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced late on Saturday night that they have come to an agreement on the debt ceiling, with Republicans expected to extend the nation’s debt limit in exchange for other demands.
The agreement was reached when Biden and McCarthy spoke on the phone late in the day, after not having plans to discuss the debt limit further when talks continued to stall.
While McCarthy shared with reporters that there is still work to be done, he expects the language of the law to be out Sunday and a vote to be held on Wednesday.
One of the main points in the agreement is the end of the student loan repayment pause, which McCarthy said was “gone” on Sunday as a part of the deal.
“The pause is gone within 60 days of this being signed. So that is another victory because that brings in $5 billion each month to the American public,” McCarthy said “Fox News Sunday.”
McCarthy went on to share his disagreements with how Biden has handled student loans, saying that pausing payments for all Americans was unconstitutional.
Now, everyone who has borrowed money will have to begin repayments within 60 days of the legislation’s signing, regardless of how the president’s cancellation case is ruled on in the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court is taking up that case. But if the Supreme Court came back and said that was unconstitutional, the president could still say he’s pausing, not waving it. But now that this is in law, the Supreme Court decision will have to be upheld, that they would have to pay,” McCarthy added.
Other agreements made between the two parties include lower spending levels, new work requirements for social benefit programs, and permitting reforms to expedite the approval of energy infrastructure projects.
In exchange for these new terms, which Democrats opposed, Republicans have agreed to extend the government’s borrowing authority for at least two years, pushing the threat of default beyond the 2024 elections, a demand that Biden made in the talks, The Hill reported.
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