Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House speaker, said a bill to raise the US debt ceiling could be put to a vote as early as next week, offering hope that the White House and Congress will strike a deal to avert default ahead of the June 1 deadline.
“We’re not there, we haven’t agreed to anything yet. But I see the path that we can come to an agreement,” McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning. “I think we have a structure now and everybody's working hard. I mean we're working two or three times a day, then going back getting more numbers,” he continued.
His comments are among the most optimistic he has delivered on the debt ceiling crisis, matching the upbeat tone coming from the White House earlier in the week. US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was “confident” a deal could be reached to avoid an unprecedented and potentially economically devastating default that could come early next month if Congress fails to act.