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Watch: Representatives debate as House expected to vote on bill to raise debt ceiling

Oliver Browning
Wednesday 31 May 2023 15:16 EDT
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Watch as the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill to raise the debt ceiling on Wednesday 31 May.

Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning the bipartisan deal - agreed days ago - will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans and Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass.

Ahead of the vote to lift the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, Mr McCarthy predicted it will pass the chamber, saying: “It’s going to become law.”

Mr Biden, meanwhile, took to Twitter to outline what failure to pass the bill could mean for America.

“Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost,” he wrote.

If a majority of legislators in the House approve, the bill will move on to the US Senate.

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