House advances debt-ceiling bill in 241-187 vote, with final vote expected tonight

Those tallies show the extent of the opposition to the bipartisan debt-limit package among House Republicans who are defying their leadership, as well as the low level of support for it among House Democrats even as it has a Democratic president’s backing.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, reached a debt-ceiling deal over the holiday weekend, but that hasn’t meant it’s now all smooth sailing in Congress.

Once approved by the House, the bill is expected to go to the Senate and then get signed into law by Biden. Several senators have indicated they don’t plan to let the Fiscal Responsibility Act sail through the Democrat-run chamber.

See: Debt-ceiling deal: Here’s what’s next as the House prepares to vote tonight

And read: Debt-ceiling deal’s work requirements, student-loan provisions and housing spending would be a blow to poor people, advocates say

Biden told reporters that he was upbeat on the House’s upcoming vote, as he prepared to travel on Wednesday to Colorado to deliver a commencement address on Thursday at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

“God willing, by the time I land, Congress will have acted, the House will have acted and we’ll be one step closer,” the president said.

The Biden-McCarthy deal aims to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a market-shaking default by the federal government.

U.S. stocks
SPX,
-0.61%

DJIA,
-0.41%
closed with losses on Wednesday, as investors waited for the debt-ceiling vote and assessed a reporting showing job openings at a three-month high, another sign that more interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could be coming.

Now read: Stocks may have put the debt ceiling behind them, but here are more risks to 2023’s market rally

Also: A big short in Treasurys? Traders are building up bets around a debt-ceiling resolution

Plus: ‘Potent liquidity squeeze’ threatens stock market once debt-ceiling deal is done