We Have a Debt Ceiling Agreement
The Sunday May 28th agreement between the Speaker of the House and the President was codified as the 99-page Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The Bill was approved by the House yesterday afternoon and by the Senate late last night before the June 5th Department of the Treasury deadline for a presumed default.
The debt ceiling will be lifted through mid-2025. Non-military discretionary spending will be pegged at the FY 2022 level. Work restrictions will be placed on able-bodied SNAP recipients. Permitting for energy projects will be expedited. Some COVID funds will be clawed back.
Enactment of the Bill has averted a potential fiscal crisis with severe repercussions for the U.S. and World economies. In the event of a default, the industrial, service and agricultural sectors and consumers would have been severely impacted with a possible transition to a World recession. Enactment of the Fiscal responsibility Bill is recognition that reasonable legislators can put aside parochial or extremist positions and compromise without abandoning their principles for the common good.