Biden signs Fiscal Responsibility Act averting first-ever US default

President Biden signs the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, a bipartisan agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that suspends the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025, averting the first-ever US debt default. The deal, reached after weeks of tense brinkmanship, caps discretionary spending growth, claws back unspent COVID-19 funds and some IRS enforcement funding, adds work requirements to some SNAP recipients, and includes energy permitting reform. Progressive Democrats object to spending cuts and work requirements. The legislation passes the House 314-117 and the Senate 63-36. Biden calls it a compromise that prevents economic catastrophe while protecting key Democratic priorities.