WASHINGTON - The United States House Rules Committee said it will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the debt ceiling Bill.

The Bill needs to pass through a narrowly divided Congress before June 5, when the US Treasury says it would run short of money to cover all of its obligations.

Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday signed off on an agreement to temporarily suspend the US$31.4 trillion (S$42.5 trillion) debt ceiling and cap some federal spending in order to prevent a US debt default.

Mr Biden said the deal was ready to move to Congress for a vote.

“This is a deal that’s good news for... the American people,” Mr Biden told reporters on Sunday at the White House after a call with Mr McCarthy to put the final touches to a tentative deal they struck the night before.

“It takes the threat of catastrophic default off the table, protects our hard-earned and historic economic recovery.”

The deal preventing the US government from defaulting on its debt – which would have been a first in history – comes after weeks of heated negotiations between Mr Biden and House Republicans.

“I strongly urge both Chambers to pass that agreement,” Mr Biden said, adding that he expected Mr McCarthy to have the necessary votes for the deal to pass.

The deal has drawn fire from hardline Republicans and progressive Democrats, but Mr McCarthy earlier on Sunday predicted he would have the support of a majority of his fellow Republicans.

The agreement would suspend the debt limit through Jan 1, 2025, cap spending in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, claw back unused Covid-19 funds, speed up the permitting process for some energy projects and include extra work requirements for food aid programmes for poor Americans.

The Bill would authorise more than US$886 billion for security spending in fiscal year 2024 and over US$703 billion in the non-security spending category for the same year, not including some adjustments, according to the text. It would also authorise a 1 per cent increase for security spending in fiscal year 2025.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in a statement applauded the agreement and called on the Senate to act swiftly to pass it without unnecessary delay.

“Today’s agreement makes urgent progress towards preserving our nation’s full faith and credit and a much needed step towards getting its financial house in order,” Mr McConnell said.

But members of the Republican hardline House Freedom Caucus said they would try to prevent the agreement from passing the House in a vote expected on Wednesday.

“We’re going to try,” Representative Chip Roy, a prominent Freedom Caucus member, said in a Sunday tweet.

Mr McCarthy dismissed threats of opposition within his own party, saying more than 95 per cent of House Republicans were overwhelmingly excited about the deal.

“This is a good, strong Bill that a majority of Republicans will vote for,” the California Republican told reporters in the US Capitol. “You’re going to have Republicans and Democrats be able to move this to the President.”

McCarthy not worried

To win the Speaker’s gavel, Mr McCarthy agreed to enable any single House member to call for a vote to unseat him, potentially making him vulnerable to ouster by disgruntled Republicans.

Mr McCarthy said he was not at all concerned about that possibility.

Republicans control the House by 222-213, while Democrats control the Senate by 51-49. These narrow margins mean that moderates from both sides will have to support the Bill, if the compromise loses the support of the far left and far right wings of each party.

“I’m not happy with some of the things I’m hearing about,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told CNN’s State Of The Union programme.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he expected Democratic support for the deal, but declined in an interview on CBS’ Face The Nation to estimate how many of his party members would vote for it.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, interviewed on CNN, said of the debt deal that she is “an optimist with a sense of concern” about its contents.

She praised the deal that she said would save Medicaid from benefit cuts while expanding the safety net to veterans and homeless people.

“We kept the student debt responsibility that we have,” she said, referring to Mr Biden’s policy of limited loan forgiveness.

Progressive Democrats in both Chambers had said they would not support any deal that had additional work requirements for government food and healthcare programmes. Sources said this deal would add work requirements to food aid for people aged 50 to 54. REUTERS