US Senate Passes Law to Suspend Debt Ceiling, Biden’s Signature Ends Crisis

On Thursday evening, the US Senate passed the “Fiscal Responsibility Act”, which suspends the debt ceiling of $ 31.4 trillion while reducing federal spending, and supports the deal concluded by President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy to avoid the crisis that has dominated the American atmosphere in recent months. And it caused the possibility of the United States defaulting on its debts for the first time in its history.

And the law is now on Biden’s desk for his signature, and he is expected to do so today, Friday, and then give a speech at seven in the evening, in which he assures Americans that the crisis is over, just three days before the fifth of June, which Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary, hit as the date for the first possibility. To run out of funds required to meet the obligations of the largest economy in the world.

“Nobody gets everything they want in negotiations, but to be fair: This bipartisan agreement is a huge victory for our economy and the American people,” Biden said in a statement after the vote was completed.

Stock futures rose slightly Thursday night, after the new legislation spared the United States potential economic chaos, which would not have been confined within American borders.

The Senate, which is controlled by President Biden’s Democratic party, passed the law by a margin of 63-36, which was sufficient, as it requires the approval of only 60 members.

After the Senate vote, Yellen hailed the new law, saying it “protects the confidence and credit of the United States and maintains our fiscal leadership, which is critical to our economic growth and stability.”

Investors and market analysts followed the debt ceiling drama in its critical stages during the last month, a month that saw Fitch Ratings put the United States on the review list for the possibility of lowering it, in a rare incident.

In a statement after Thursday’s vote, ratings agency Moody’s said the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis was in line with its expectations, noting that it was not considering downgrading the US debt rating.

“The Aaa stable outlook for the US sovereign credit rating reflects this expectation,” said William Foster, senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service.