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Biden signs debt ceiling bill, pulling US from brink of default

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Biden signs debt ceiling bill, pulling US from brink of default

With just two days to spare, President Joe Biden has signed legislation that lifts the nation’s debt ceiling, averting an economically disastrous default on the federal government’s debt.

The White House announced the signing on Saturday, done in private at the White House, in an emailed statement in which Biden thanked congressional leaders for their partnership.

The Department of the Treasury had warned the country would start running short of cash to pay all of its bills on Monday, which would have sent shockwaves through the US and global economies.

Republicans had refused to raise the country’s borrowing limit unless Democrats agreed to cut spending, leading to a standoff that was not resolved until weeks of intense negotiations between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The final agreement, passed by the House on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, suspends the debt limit until 2025 – after the next presidential election – and restricts government spending. It gives lawmakers budget targets for the next two years in hopes of assuring fiscal stability as the political season heats up.

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Raising the nation’s debt limit, now at $31.4 trillion, will ensure the government can borrow to pay debts already incurred.

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

“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 itemise the achievements of his first term as he runs for re-election, including support for high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure investments and financial incentives for fighting climate change. He also highlighted ways he blunted Republican efforts to roll back his agenda and achieve deeper cuts.

“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.”

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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 is 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.”

‘Good of the country’

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.

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.

Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas pipeline that many Democrats oppose. Some environmental rules were modified to help streamline approvals for infrastructure and energy projects – a move long sought by moderates in Congress.

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The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 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 bolstered funds for defence and veterans, cut back some new money for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and rejected 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’s plans to step up enforcement of tax laws for high-income earners and corporations would continue.

The agreement imposed an automatic overall 1 percent cut to spending programmes if Congress failed to 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.

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In the Senate, the tally was 63-36 including 46 Democrats and independents and 17 Republicans in favour, 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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Video: Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Claims Victory in U.K. Election

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Video: Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Claims Victory in U.K. Election

new video loaded: Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Claims Victory in U.K. Election

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Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Claims Victory in U.K. Election

Set to be the next prime minister of the U.K., Keir Starmer swore that his party would work to “restore Britain to the service of working people.”

Four and a half years of work changing the party. This is what it is for, a changed Labour Party, ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people. And across our country, people will be waking up to the news relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation. Together, the values of this changed Labour Party are the guiding principle for a new government. Country first, party second. Today, we start the next chapter, begin the work of change, the mission of national renewal and start to rebuild our country. Thank you. Thank you.

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Recent episodes in Europe

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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro indicted by Federal Police in undeclared diamonds case: AP

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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro indicted by Federal Police in undeclared diamonds case: AP

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was indicted by the country’s Federal Police for alleged money laundering and criminal association in connection with diamonds he allegedly received from Saudi Arabia while he was in office, a source with knowledge of the accusations told The Associated Press.

Reports of the indictment were confirmed by two officials who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity. However, the crimes of which the Federal Police are accusing the former president have not been disclosed.

BRAZILIAN POLICE INVESTIGATE FORMER PRESIDENT BOLSONARO’S ALLIES OVER ALLEGED ELECTION INTERFERENCE

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly been indicted over his undisclosed receipt of diamonds from Saudi Arabia. (Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)

The Brazilian Supreme Court has yet to receive the police report containing the indictment. Once it does, the document will be reviewed by Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet, an appointee of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – a leftist firebrand and chief political rival to Bolsonaro.

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CONSERVATIVE BRAZILIANS LAUD ELON MUSK AT RALLY IN SUPPORT OF BOLSONARO

Lula da Silva narrowly defeated the right-wing leader in his 2022 re-election bid.

Gonet will then decide whether the allegations against the former president merit criminal charges and a trial.

 

This is the second formal accusation of criminal wrongdoing against the former president, who in March was charged with forging his COVID-19 vaccine records.

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Authorities are also probing his alleged involvement in the incitement of a 2023 uprising in Brasília, Brazil’s capital, which sought to oust the newly-elected Lula from office.

Bolsonaro has denied all wrongdoing. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Iranians return to polls to pick new president amid voter turnout concerns

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Iranians return to polls to pick new president amid voter turnout concerns

Run-off pits centrist Masoud Pezeshkian against hardliner Saeed Jalili in race to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

Iranians have returned to the polls for a presidential run-off which pits centrist Masoud Pezeshkian against hardliner Saeed Jalili in the race to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

The second round on Friday comes as neither contender secured an outright majority on June 28, with Pezeshkian receiving about 42.5 percent of votes and Jalili some 38.7 percent.

The election is being held against the backdrop of heightened regional tensions over Israel’s war on Gaza, Iran’s dispute with the West over its nuclear programme, growing discontent over the state of an economy crippled by sanctions, and disillusionment following deadly protests in 2022-2023.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, cast his ballot when polling stations opened at 8am (04:30 GMT), state TV showed.

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“It’s a good day to participate in the electoral process,” he said in an address encouraging people to come out and vote.

“Hopefully we will choose the right candidate. At this stage, people should make an extra effort to elect a president by tomorrow.”

Only 40 percent of Iran’s 61 million eligible voters cast their ballot in June, the lowest turnout in any presidential election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that one of the polls released shortly before the second round of voting showed Pezeshkian likely winning the race, but both sides have predicted victory in the end.

“But some say that surveys leading to last week’s election failed, so today there could be another surprise. Here the major concern really is the turnout.”

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Low turnout

Khamenei said participation was “not as expected” in the first round but that it was not an act “against the system”.

Last week’s vote saw the conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf come in third place with 13.8 percent, while Muslim leader Mostafa Pourmohammadi garnered less than 1 percent.

The election was originally scheduled for 2025 but was brought forward following the death of Raisi.

The rival candidates in the run-off have held two debates where they discussed Iran’s economic woes, international relations, the low voter turnout and internet restrictions.

On Tuesday, Pezeshkian, 69, said people were “fed up with their living conditions … and dissatisfied with the government’s management of affairs”. He has called for “constructive relations” with the United States and European countries in order to “get Iran out of its isolation”.

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Jalili, 58, rallied a substantial base of hardline supporters and received backing from Ghalibaf and two other conservative candidates who dropped out of the race before the first round.

He has insisted that Iran does not need the abandoned nuclear deal with the US and other world powers to make progress.

The 2015 agreement – which Jalili said violated all Iran’s “red lines” by allowing inspections of nuclear sites – had imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. The accord has been hanging by a thread since 2018 when then-US President Donald Trump withdrew.

Jalili has held several senior positions, including in Khamenei’s office in the early 2000s. He is currently one of Khamenei’s representatives in the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s highest security body.

Regardless of the result, Iran’s next president will be in charge of applying state policy outlined by the supreme leader, who wields ultimate authority in the country.

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Follow live updates on the election here.

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