Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has backed the debt ceiling agreement between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, calling it a “very necessary way forward.”
The deal, with its negotiated budget components, is being criticized by many Republicans, including Chip Roy and Rand Paul.
Schumer praised the deal.
“I support the bipartisan agreement that President Biden has produced with Speaker McCarthy,” Schumer told reporters. “Avoiding default is an absolute imperative.”
Chuck Schumer said he plans to move the debt ceiling deal quickly through the Senate upon House passage.
“Senators must be prepared to act with urgency” to pass the bill “before the June 5 deadline” because it “protects key investments that are essential for growing our economy.”
“I’ll make sure the Senate moves quickly,” he said, describing the legislation as a “responsible, prudent, and very necessary way forward.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also praised McCarthy and Biden’s agreement.
“The American people got a lot more progress toward fiscal sanity,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans deserve our thanks.”
“House Republicans’ unity forced President Biden to do his job,” he added.
The agreement now appears to have enough Democrat and Republican votes to pass the House.
“I’m not sure what in the bill people are concerned about,” McCarthy told reporters.
“Since we took the majority, I wanted to change things in Washington. And Nancy [Pelosi] as Speaker had broken this place. People could not read the bills. This is 99 pages —15 of them of just rescinding the wasteful Washington spending.”
Jeffries also championed the legislation, saying, “From the very beginning, House Democrats, along with Senate Democrats, and President Biden made clear the only way to avoid a catastrophic default is to find a bipartisan solution moving forward that allows for common ground to be found.”
“I’m thankful that President Biden has been able to thread that needle and present a resolution that both avoids a default and protects incredibly important Democratic interests.”
Last week, Rep. Chip Roy blasted the debt dealing deal, calling it a “turd sandwich.”
Roy pushed back against the claim McCarthy made that “more than 95 percent of all those in the conference were very excited” about the debt deal.
“1st – the leadership playbook is to line up cheerleading on phone calls to demonstrate ‘unity.’ 2nd, not 95% – I know of more no’s than that already,” Chip Roy tweeted.
WATCH: Chip Roy Humiliates AOC in Explosive Debt Ceiling Debate
“Foreword”…isn’t that where the cliff edge is?