U.S debt ceiling crisis: House passes bill to suspend $31.4 trillion debt

The U.S house of representatives has approved a bill to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on Wednesday to avoid a catastrophic default. 314 voted in favour and 117 against. The legislation is now sent to the senate.

The senate will now enact the measure and get it to President Joe Biden's desk before the 4th June deadline. The Federal government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills on June 4.

Apart from the suspension of the debt ceiling, the agreement also caps spending in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, claw back unused Covid funds, speed up the permitting process for some energy projects and include extra work requirements for food aid programs for poor Americans.

The bill would also authorise more than $886 billion for security spending in Fy24 and non-security funding gets over $ 703 billion. In 2025, a 1% increase in security spending is authorised.