Politics

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge has ruled that Tennessee’s law restricting drag performances in public or where children were present was unconstitutional, striking a blow to efforts in U.S. states to regulate LGBTQ conduct.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in February had signed the bill passed by the state’s assembly that aimed to restrict drag performances, putting the state at the forefront of a Republican-led effort to limit drag in at least 15 states in recent months.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump, ruled late on Friday that the law was “both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” The First Amendment to the Constitution commands that laws infringing on freedom of speech must be narrow and well defined, Parker said in the 70-page ruling.

“Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech,” Parker said in the ruling.

Under the law, offenders could face fines and up to a year in prison and repeat offenders could have faced prison sentences of up to six years.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Republican lawmakers across the country have introduced more than 500 bills this year regulating the conduct of gay and transgender people, ranging from what can be taught in schools to bathroom use and medical care. At least 48 of those have passed, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group.

Parker had temporarily blocked the law on March 31, just before it was set to go into effect, siding with Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based LGBTQ theater group that filed suit against the state.

GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group, praised Parker’s decision. “This ruling is a turning point and we will not go back,” GLAAD said in a release.

“Every anti-LGBTQ elected official is on notice that these baseless laws will not stand and that our constitutional freedom of speech and expression protects everyone and propels our culture forward,” the group said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress had failed to act by then.

Biden signed the bill at the White House a day after hailing it as a bipartisan triumph in his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president.

“Thank you to Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership,” the White House said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing, naming the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people,” Biden said on Friday. “No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed.”

The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.

Fitch Ratings said on Friday the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Nick Zieminski)

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By James Oliphant and Nathan Layne

GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) – In the first full week of his 2024 presidential campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis worked hard to define himself as a candidate to voters — and just as hard to define the man who stands in his way for the Republican nomination.

As he toured 12 cities in three early-voting states, DeSantis, 44, made his case that he is the more conservative and consistent alternative to Donald Trump, the former president and current front runner in the race.

Trump fired back in a sudden escalation of the war of words between the two men that not only heightened tensions in the Republican race but also provided insight into DeSantis’ initial strategy.

Touring Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week, the governor continued to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior on issues such as abortion, immigration, government spending, crime and LGBTQ rights.

But for the first time, DeSantis began to draw sharp contrasts with Trump, painting the former president as a politician who had lost his way and who became a creature of the government he was supposed to transform by compromising too readily.

Trump’s camp has tried to do the same to DeSantis, calling him a “swamp puppet” and playing down his accomplishments as Florida’s governor. In a party where being a political outsider still holds broad appeal, neither wants to be tagged as the candidate of the establishment.

“That’s why they’re doing it,” said Doug Kochel, a veteran Republican presidential campaign operative in Iowa. “It’s a dirty word.”

DeSantis’ tour of the three states that will hold the first nominating contests of the Republican primary next year was aimed at quickly cementing himself as Trump’s largest threat.

He largely played to small but packed venues and supportive crowds, even if several voters told Reuters they had not decided on who to vote for.

In speeches, DeSantis notably did not criticize Trump by name, but instead made more opaque references, telling audiences that he would be the candidate to “finally” secure the U.S. southern border or that “leadership” was more important than “building a brand.”

It was a way of nodding to Trump’s supporters that he would continue his work without antagonizing them by insulting the former president, who still has many fiercely loyal supporters.

But in speaking to the media, DeSantis was less guarded. He suggested Trump, his main rival for the nomination had moved “left” during his White House term and that he was no longer the same candidate that ran in 2016.

DeSantis called Trump’s penchant for giving his opponents nicknames “petty” and “juvenile,” in an interview with a New Hampshire radio station on Thursday.

“I don’t think that’s what voters wants and honestly, I think his conduct, which has been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis contrasted Trump’s time in office with his own as Florida governor, where he and the Republican legislature have enacted a long string of conservative reforms.

“There’s always going to be ways you can say you can’t do something,” DeSantis told a crowd in Gilbert, South Carolina on Friday as he wound up his tour. “There will always be easy excuses that you can proffer.”

Trump dominates the Republican field with 49% support, while DeSantis is next with 19%, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted in May.

TRUMP ALTERNATIVE

DeSantis’ message appealed to voters such as Doug Lambert, 58, the vice chair of the Belknap County Republican Party in New Hampshire.

“I’ve witnessed Republican after Republican get elected to whatever office and then they all kind of backed down and compromised,” Lambert said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with sensible compromise, but I really think that if we put conservatism out there, a majority of the American people will realize that it’s a good thing.”

Maureen Plyler, 74, who watched DeSantis’ event in Gilbert, was more skeptical, saying she favored Trump’s business background. “He’s just proven,” she said. “The economy was great.”

She was unhappy with the increasingly rancorous exchanges the two candidates. “You’re not changing my mind,” she said.

DeSantis moderated his message at times. In his four stops in New Hampshire, with its large pool of independent voters, he didn’t mention the strict abortion ban Florida passed this year. But it was a top talking point in Iowa and South Carolina, where evangelical Christians hold more sway.

DeSantis also contrasted himself with the billionaire Trump in less obvious ways, calling himself a “blue-collar kid” who has had to work for everything and telling audiences that he decided to join the military instead of pursuing a lucrative career.

He frequently brought his wife, Casey DeSantis, to the stage, where they spoke about raising their young children, a reminder that DeSantis represents a wholly separate generation from the 76-year-old Trump.

Bill Hixon, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who introduced DeSantis in Gilbert, said he was ready to move on.

When Trump became president, Hixon said, “I was so excited. But frankly right now, I’ve lost my excitement.”

A woman in the crowd replied with a soft “Amen.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant in South Carolina and Nathan Layne in New Hampshire, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

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The bipartisan measure was approved by the Senate late Thursday night after passing the House in yet another late session the night before. Biden is set to sign it at the White House on Saturday with just two days to spare until the Treasury Department has warned the U.S. wouldn’t be able to meet its obligations.

“Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher,” Biden said. “Nothing would have been more catastrophic,” he said, than defaulting on the country’s debt.

“No one got everything they wanted but the American people got what they needed,” Biden said, highlighting the “compromise and consensus” in the deal. “We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.”

Biden used the opportunity to itemize the achievements of his first term as he runs for reelection, including support for high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure investments and financial incentives for fighting climate change.

“We’re cutting spending and bringing deficits down at the same time,” Biden said. “We’re protecting important priorities from Social Security to Medicare to Medicaid to veterans to our transformational investments in infrastructure and clean energy.”

Biden also made a renewed pitch for his governing style, which he described as less shouting and lower temperatures after four years of President Donald Trump.

“I know bipartisanship is hard,” he said. “And unity is hard. But we can never stop trying.”

Even as he pledged to continue working with Republicans, Biden also drew contrasts with the opposing party, particularly when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy, something the Democratic president has sought.

It’s something he suggested may need to wait until a second term.

“I’m going to be coming back,” he said. “With your help, I’m going to win.”

Biden’s remarks were the most detailed comments from the Democratic president on the compromise he and his staff negotiated. He largely remained quiet publicly during the high-stakes talks, a decision that frustrated some members of his party but was intended to give space for both sides to reach a deal and for lawmakers to vote it to his desk.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden was using the occasion to deliver his first address to the nation from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office because “he just wanted to make sure that the American people understood how important it was to get this done, how important it was to do this in a bipartisan way.”

Biden praised McCarthy and his negotiators for operating in good faith, and all congressional leaders for ensuring swift passage of the legislation. “They acted responsibly, and put the good of the country ahead of politics,” he said.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could actually expand total eligibility for federal food assistance, with the elimination of work requirements for veterans, homeless people and young people leaving foster care.

The legislation also bolsters funds for defense and veterans, cuts back some new money for Internal Revenue Service and rejects Biden’s call to roll back Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy to help cover the nation’s deficits. But the White House said the IRS’ plans to step up enforcement of tax laws for high-income earners and corporations would continue.

The agreement also imposes an automatic overall 1% cut to spending programs if Congress fails approve its annual spending bills — a measure designed to pressure lawmakers of both parties to reach consensus before the end of the fiscal year in September.

In both chambers, more Democrats backed the legislation than Republicans, but both parties were critical to its passage. In the Senate the tally was 63-36 including 46 Democrats and independents and 17 Republicans in favor, 31 Republicans along with four Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats opposed.

The vote in the House was 314-117.

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By Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden declared a “crisis averted” on Friday in his first address from the White House’s Oval Office, as he touted the passage of a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and curb spending.

Biden, a Democrat, said he would sign the bill into law on Saturday, concluding months of uncertainty and averting what would have been a first-ever U.S. default as early as June 5.

“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people. No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed,” Biden said while sitting at the historic “Resolute Desk” in the presidential office.

After nail-biting negotiations, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bill this week that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

Biden said to preserve U.S. economic progress it was critical to keep the country’s full faith and credit in tact. The new law averted a crisis, he said.

“The stakes could not have been higher,” Biden said.

The president, who is running for re-election, noted other bipartisan bills he has signed and offered praise to Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, who was his primary negotiating partner.

“The final vote in both chambers was overwhelming,” Biden said. The Senate voted 63 to 36 to approve the bill, and the House 314 to 117.

Fitch Ratings said on Friday the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations.

U.S. presidents have generally reserved an address from the Oval Office for the most significant, and dramatic of events: the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for example, or the Challenger space shuttle explosion.

The White House said Biden was making his remarks there because of the gravity of the situation had the debt ceiling not been raised.

Former President Ronald Reagan spoke to the nation from the Oval Office after the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986; and former President George W. Bush used the venue to address the country after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Former President Barack Obama made remarks from the Oval Office in the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

Biden, who came into office in January 2021, has spoken before to the nation during ‘primetime’ hours, including his State of the Union addresses from the Capitol and a speech from the White House East Room during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the Friday night address is his first from the Oval Office, a setting that highlights the power and authority of the presidency, as Biden seeks a second term against a growing field of Republican candidates.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Diane Craft)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden may sign the bill lifting the U.S. debt ceiling as soon as Saturday, according to the White House.

Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday the signing would take place after Congress finishes its work to finalize the bill.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese)

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By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The latest standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, resolved just days before the government faced a devastating default, has prompted some to call for the country to ditch its self-imposed borrowing limit.

That’s not likely to happen any time soon.

Though the showdown unnerved investors and prompted threats of a second U.S. debt downgrade in a little over a decade, proposals to abolish the debt ceiling have gained little traction in Congress in recent years.

Republicans have shown no interest in abandoning a point of leverage that they have used to win trillions of dollars in spending cuts from Democratic administrations.

“There’s no other way to address the spending habits that we’ve got,” said Republican Senator Mike Rounds.

This year’s debt standoff and the past two major ones — in 2011 and 2013 — all played out with a similar power divide in Washington, with a Democratic president and Senate majority, and Republican control of the House of Representatives.

But Democrats did not try to abolish the debt ceiling when they controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2021 and 2022. Now they lack the means to do so.

Last November, after Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives but before the Republican majority was sworn in, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Democratic lawmakers to deal with the debt ceiling then to avert a crisis. Her calls went unheeded.

As a result, Washington will have to confront the issue again before the current agreement expires on Jan. 1 2025.

‘OUTLIVED ITS USEFULNESS’

Some budget hawks who previously supported the debt ceiling now argue that the growing dysfunction in Washington has made the risk of default too great.

“If it was ever a useful tool, it’s outlived that usefulness and it’s time to get rid of it,” said Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group that dropped its support for the debt ceiling earlier this year.

The United States is one of only two industrialized countries that requires policymakers to approve payments for debts it has already incurred. The other country, Denmark, has raised its limit high enough to render it irrelevant.

“We’re really the only country that does this to ourselves, and it has proven a complete failure in limiting the deficit in any way,” said Democratic Representative Bill Foster, who has written legislation that would abolish the debt ceiling.

Foster’s bill has drawn the support of 44 House Democrats, and he says Republicans have told him privately they support the idea. But none have endorsed it publicly.

Similar legislation in the Democratic-controlled Senate has likewise failed to pick up Republican support.

Congress has voted to raise or suspend the debt ceiling 21 times since the last time the country posted a budget surplus in 2001.

During that time, the debt load has grown from 27% of GDP to 98%, government statistics show, as lawmakers have signed off on wars, tax cuts and economic stimulus packages while expanding safety-net programs.

But the debt ceiling has occasionally proven useful as a way to force lawmakers to face the consequences of their tax and spending policies.

Congress paired several debt-ceiling hikes with bipartisan budget deals in the 1980s and 1990s that led to the balanced budgets by the end of the century.

More recently, Republicans leveraged a debt-ceiling vote to win more than $1 trillion in spending restraint from Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011, and $1.3 trillion from Biden this time around.

“The debt limit is a terrible tool to address deficits, but it’s the only one we’ve got,” said Brian Riedl, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute.

Riedl and other independent budget experts have floated ways for Congress to reckon with the national debt while taking the threat of default off the table.

The Bipartisan Policy Center has suggested that the debt ceiling could be raised automatically when Congress passes an annual budget, while Riedl says the budgeting process itself should be less siloed and flexible.

Absent those reforms, many budget experts say the debt ceiling is the only way to force some sort of fiscal restraint.

“I would never just drop the debt ceiling and do nothing else in its stead. It is the only fiscal speed bump there is,” said Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; additional reporting by David Morgan; editing by Scott Malone and Chizu Nomiyama)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Justice has closed its investigation into former Vice President Mike Pence without filing any charges related to classified documents found in his Indiana home, a department official said on Friday.

The department notified Pence through a letter, the official added.

Representatives for Pence, who served under former Republican President Donald Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After revelations of classified material found at Trump’s Florida residence after he left office, the National Archives called on former presidents and vice presidents to make checks for any material that should be in the government’s possession.

A lawyer for Pence had notified authorities about the discovery of records with classified markings, prompting an FBI search for records at his Indianapolis residence this year.

NBC and CNN reported the closing of the probe earlier Friday.

Pence’s spokesman has said the former vice president has “fully cooperated” with the probe and Pence himself has publicly acknowledged what he called a mistake.

A Justice Department special counsel, Jack Smith, is investigating Trump’s handling of classified materials since leaving office in January 2021.

A separate special counsel was appointed to conduct an investigation after U.S. President Joe Biden reported finding some classified material in his possession.

Both Biden and Trump are seeking the presidency in the 2024 election. Pence is expected to announce his candidacy next week.

(Reporting by Timothy Reid; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Doina Chiacu)

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By Nathan Layne

LACONIA, New Hampshire (Reuters) – When Casey DeSantis took to a New Hampshire stage on Thursday to talk about her advocacy work and share anecdotes about the travails of raising small children, Lisa Teeman was among the women in attendance whose face lit up with a smile.

“She is a very strong woman,” said Teeman, a 62-year-old retired IT professional who had come to hear Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential pitch. “I think she can gain votes for him.”

As the Republican governor makes the case for his nascent 2024 campaign this week to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, his wife of 13 years is emerging as a pivotal figure in his bid to win over supporters of rival Donald Trump.

On the trail in the early voting states, Casey DeSantis, 42, has combined a fierce defense of her husband’s record as governor with anecdotes about the challenges of raising their three children, ages 3, 5 and 6.

Her remarks in the blue-collar New Hampshire city of Laconia elicited a mixture of laughter and applause.

“He doesn’t cower. He never takes the path of least resistance. He always stands up for what’s right,” she said, calling her husband her “better half.”

Some Republican voters said they viewed her personal story – she is a former TV broadcaster who overcame breast cancer – as uplifting and believed that she could help soften the perception of her husband, who has been criticized for being stiff and lacking charisma.

“She just came across as very warm, very caring, very supportive, very intelligent,” said Suzanne Nelson, president of a women’s club in New Hampshire that works to support Republican candidates. “I like what I heard from him, but I think she could make a difference.”

Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted on May 9-15 showed Trump is backed by 49% of Republicans, with Ron DeSantis in a distant second place at 19%.

Casey DeSantis has been credited by DeSantis and others around him as his closest adviser and a partner in his political activities.

Her involvement on the trail could mark a sharp contrast with Trump, who typically holds rallies and other events without his wife, former first lady Melania. Trump’s daughter Ivanka has said she will not participate in his bid for a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in 2024.

Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican political consultant, said Casey and her husband also come across as young and energetic in comparison with the Bidens.

“She’s definitely an asset to his campaign,” Hoffman said. “I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make in the primary, but the campaign is smart to use her as an effective surrogate.”

At the Laconia event on Thursday, Casey DeSantis stayed in the main hall longer then her husband, greeting voters and posing for pictures.

Doug Lambert, vice chair of the Republican Party in Belknap, New Hampshire’s most conservative county, said he was impressed with her focus on issues facing children and families. He said her speech had helped solidify his support for the governor.

“Tell me that’s not central casting first lady material,” Lambert said. “She’s the real deal.”

(Reporting by Nathan Layne and Jim Oliphant in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Christopher Cushing)

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By Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation backed by President Joe Biden that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default.

The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill that had been passed on Wednesday by the House of Representatives, as lawmakers raced against the clock following months of partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress failed to act by then.

“We are avoiding default tonight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday as he steered the legislation through his 100-member chamber.

Biden praised Congress’ timely action. “This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” the Democratic president said in a statement, adding that he will sign it into law as soon as possible. He said he would make an additional statement on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT).

Biden was directly involved in negotiations on the bill with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

While this bitter battle has ended, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time flagging the next budget fight.

“In the coming months, Senate Republicans will continue working to provide for the common defense and control Washington Democrats’ reckless spending,” he said in a statement.

McConnell was referring to 12 bills Congress will work on over the summer to fund government programs in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, which will also carry out the broad instructions of the debt limit bill.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, meanwhile, issued some pointed advice saying, “I continue to strongly believe that the full faith and credit of the United States must never be used as a bargaining chip,” as Republicans did over the past several months.

Before the final vote, senators tore through nearly a dozen amendments – rejecting all of them during a late-night session in anticipation of Monday’s deadline.

With this legislation, the statutory limit on federal borrowing will be suspended until Jan. 1, 2025. Unlike most other developed countries, the United States limits the amount of debt the government can borrow, regardless of any spending allocated by the legislature.

“America can breathe a sigh of relief,” Schumer said in remarks to the Senate.

‘TIME IS A LUXURY’

Republicans had blocked passage of any debt limit increase until they locked in some wide-ranging spending cuts in a move they said would begin addressing a rapidly escalating national debt.

Biden instead pushed for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to help address the growing debt. Republicans refused to consider any sort of tax hikes.

Both parties walled off the sprawling Social Security and Medicare retirement and healthcare programs from cuts, and McCarthy refused to consider reducing spending on the military or veterans.

That left a somewhat narrow band of domestic “discretionary” programs to bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the end, Republicans won about $1.5 trillion in reductions over 10 years, which may or may not be fully realized. Their opening bid was for $4.8 trillion in savings over a decade.

Treasury technically hit its limit on borrowing in January. Since then it has been using “extraordinary measures” to patch together the money needed to pay the government’s bills.

Biden, Yellen and congressional leaders all acknowledged that triggering a default for lack of funds would have serious ramifications. Those included sending shock waves through global financial markets, possibly triggering job losses and a recession in the United States and raising families’ interest rates on everything from home mortgages to credit card debt.

The Republican-controlled House passed the bill on Wednesday evening in a 314-117 vote. Most of those who voted against the bill were Republicans.

“Time is a luxury the Senate does not have,” Schumer said on Thursday. “Any needless delay or any last-minute holdups would be an unnecessary and even dangerous risk.”

Among the amendments debated were ones to force deeper spending cuts than those contained in the House-passed bill and stopping the speedy final approval of a West Virginia energy pipeline.

COBBLED OVER WEEKS

Republican Senator Roger Marshall offered an amendment to impose new border controls as high numbers of immigrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. His measure, he said, would “put an end to the culture of lawlessness at our southern border.”

The Senate defeated the amendment, however. Democrats said it would strip away protections for child migrants and rob American farmers of needed workers.

Some Republicans also wanted to beef up defense spending beyond the increased levels contained in the House-passed bill.

In response, Schumer said the spending caps in this legislation would not constrain Congress in approving additional money for emergencies, including helping Ukraine in its battle against Russia.

“This debt ceiling deal does nothing to limit the Senate’s ability to appropriate emergency supplemental funds to ensure our military capabilities are sufficient to deter China, Russia and our other adversaries, and respond to ongoing and growing national security threats, including Russia’s evil ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine,” Schumer said.

The bill was cobbled together over weeks of intensive negotiations between senior aides for Biden and McCarthy.

The main argument was over spending for the next couple of years on discretionary programs such as housing, environmental protections, education and medical research that Republicans wanted to cut deeply.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would save $1.5 trillion over 10 years. That is below the $3 trillion in deficit reduction, mainly through new taxes, that Biden proposed.

The last time the United States came this close to default was in 2011. That standoff hammered financial markets, led to the first-ever downgrade of the government’s credit rating and pushed up the nation’s borrowing costs.

There was less drama this time as it became clear last week that Biden and McCarthy would find a deal with enough bipartisan support to get through Congress.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Gram Slattery; Editing by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, Diane Craft, Kieran Murray and William Mallard)

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