Debt Limit Crunch Time
All eyes are on Washington this week as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy sell their bipartisan debt limit agreement to Members of Congress for passage before the expected June 5th default date.
The text of the nearly 100-page deal was released over the weekend, the key details of which include the following:
- Keeps non-defense spending levels flat at FY2023 levels while fully funding the President’s FY2024 request for veterans’ medical care
- Provides $886 billion in defense spending, a 3% increase
- Imposes certain work requirements through 2030 for SNAP recipients up to age 54
- Codifies environmental permitting reforms that create a single agency point of contact for making permitting decisions
- Codifies an end to the Administration’s student loan payment pause while retaining the President’s proposed student loan debt relief plan, which is currently under review by the Supreme Court
The House cancelled its planned recess this week to take up the debt limit package, which will begin on Monday with the Rules Committee setting terms for floor debate.
Members will also take up various market-related bills under expedited procedures concerning accredited investors eligibilities, corporate disclosures of multi-class stock voting rights, and support for minority- and women-owned small businesses at the SEC’s Small Business Capital Formation Office.
The Senate is also in town this week, with judicial nomination votes scheduled in addition to several committee hearings including the following:
- The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will discuss ways to advance U.S. national security, economic security, and foreign policy to compete with China
- The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will discuss the reliability and resiliency of U.S. electric services