President Joe Biden has urged Congress to pass a deal to raise the government’s borrowing limit and prevent a potentially catastrophic default on US debt repayments. So what is in the deal?
Negotiators from Democratic and Republican parties finalised an agreement on Sunday night.
If approved, it would allow the federal government to borrow money until well after the next presidential election due in November 2024.
Voting on the bill, the text of which was posted to a congressional website, is set to start later this week in the House and the Senate.
Here are the highlights from the package of measures.
Every so often, US Congress must vote to raise or suspend the ceiling, so it can borrow more to pay its bills. Currently it is $31.4tn (£25tn).
This includes paying for federal employees, the military, Social Security and Medicare, as well as interest on the national debt and tax refunds.
But in recent years, this has become increasingly difficult, because the two sides cannot agree on the terms.
In the deal reached on Sunday, they have not raised the limit to a certain level, but suspended it entirely until 2025.
This allows them to pay their bills until that date and know that the next fight over raising the ceiling will not interfere with the presidential election.
And the rest of the world can breathe a sigh of relief if the deal is signed because a US default would have a global impact.
Republicans wanted a freeze on overall spending for 10 years, with a rise in defence spending and cuts to other budgets.
The agreement keeps non-defence spending flat next year, with a 1% rise in 2025. The implications of this belt tightening is as yet unclear.
Defence spending would increase to $886bn, which amounts to a 3% rise on this year.
There are no budget caps after 2025.
The White House estimates government spending would be reduced by at least $1tn, says AP News, but official calculations have not yet been released.
Full funding for the medical care of military veterans would also increase, in line with what President Biden had sought.
Analysis by Nomia Iqbal, BBC North America Correspondent: Both sides claim victory here. The White House says these cuts are not significant. The defence spending rise is what President Biden wanted but it’s below the rate of inflation and doesn’t meet the demands of the more hawkish Republicans.
With the public health emergency officially ended in May, Republicans had argued for the relief funds that were not spent to be returned.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated this will amount to about $30bn.
Analysis: This is a win for Republicans. Many Democrats were concerned public health initiatives would be impacted by this, but it was an easier thing for President Biden to give up than other Republican priorities like Medicaid work requirements.
A central demand of Republicans was to toughen up the distribution of welfare benefits by attaching strings that would mean able-bodied recipients having to work to get food and healthcare help.
Democrats were adamant this should not be on the table.
The welfare being looked at by Republicans included Medicaid (health coverage for poor Americans), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Medicaid remains untouched in the deal, but the age at which work requirements are included for those on SNAP was raised from 50 to 54.
Analysis: The White House will be happy it gained exceptions to the food stamp requirements for veterans and people who are homeless but stricter work requirements overall are a win for Republicans. It will be a hard sell for progressive Democratic lawmakers.
A win for Democrats was securing $80bn for a decade to help the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to enforce the tax code in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act on the richest.
Analysis: The Republicans wanted to dump the £80bn in IRS funding, claiming it would be used to hire an army of agents to audit Americans – the agency said it would also be used to modernise the system. Instead – in showcasing his deal-making skills – President Biden agreed to cut $20bn but divert that cash to other non-defense spending.
New rules will make it easier for both fossil fuel and renewable energy projects to get licences.
This has long been advocated by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
It will basically streamline the environmental review process and potentially get projects off the ground in a faster time.
Analysis: This is a win and a loss for the White House. Both parties agree it takes far too long for new energy infrastructure to be built but disagree on what projects should be prioritised. Republicans want more gas pipelines and fossil fuel projects; Democrats want more clean energy. This could be another red line for progressive Democrats.
Student loan relief
Republicans had wanted the Biden plan to forgive student debt to be rescinded but it survived.
Analysis: The Biden administration’s student debt case will be ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. But the bill does require the Biden administration to follow through with a plan to end the current pause – which has been in effect since the start of the pandemic – on student loan repayments by the end of summer.
Tax hikes
Democrats had targeted wealthy Americans for new tax hikes but there are no new taxes here.
Analysis: House Democrats will be fuming about this. They were already critical that the White House did not make taxes on the rich and powerful the centrepiece of their talks.
Clean energy
Republicans had wanted to repeal key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy and climate provisions but it was unscathed.
Analysis: A win for both – certainly as far as environmentalists are concerned. The US renewable energy industry group the American Clean Power Association said it “applauds President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy for prioritising national interests over partisan politics”.
