What to know about the debt ceiling vote and how to watch

The House is set to vote Wednesday on a bill that would suspend the debt ceiling. The vote will act as a test for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who worked on the bipartisan bill with President Joe Biden. Their plan to avert a major default on the nation’s debt has been scrutinized by hard-line Republicans, but now only a final vote stands in the way of the bill’s ability to head to the Senate.

Here’s what you need to know.

The House is on track to begin consideration Wednesday afternoon, though the exact time hasn’t been specified, The New York Times reported. Following debate on the floor, a final passage vote will take place sometime this evening.

You can follow along by watching the House’s livestream on its website. Some news outlets, including PBS, will stream on YouTube. CSPAN and other TV stations will broadcast the proceedings.

Months in the making, the bill represents a modest deal that gives both McCarthy and Biden wins to tout. Biden was able to protect major parts of his agenda from Republican cuts and McCarthy scored several conservative spending caps and changes to government programs.

McCarthy has pledged that the House will vote on the legislation Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it before June 5, the date when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States could default on its debt obligations if lawmakers did not act.

Still, passing the bill could be a heavy lift. A growing number of hardline conservatives expressed early concerns that the compromise does not cut future deficits enough, while Democrats have been worried about proposed changes to work requirements in programs such as food stamps.

Details in the bill include new spending limits and a two-year debt limit suspension, the rescindment of about $30 billion in unspent coronavirus relief money, the clawback of $10 billion in IRS funding, and a new streamlining process to get energy projects approved quicker.

Overall, the Congressional Budget Office projected Tuesday that the bill would reduce budget deficits by about $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

The 99-page bill would impact groups of people including veterans, people receiving assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, those who have student loans, and more.

The bill would expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps — a longtime Republican priority. It would phase in a higher age limit, from 49 to 54, over the next two years. But the maximum age would return to 49 by 2030.

It would also expand SNAP benefits’ reach to veterans, homeless people, and young people who are aging out of foster care until 2030.

The bill would fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. Biden sought $20.3 billion for the toxic exposure fund in his budget.

Biden agreed to end the pause on student loan repayment. If the bill is passed, it means student loan payments would resume in September.

The fate of Biden’s broader student loan relief, meanwhile, will be decided at the Supreme Court, which is dominated 6-3 by its conservative wing. During oral arguments in the case, several justices expressed deep skepticism about the legality of Biden’s plan. A decision is expected before the end of June.

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House Republicans passed legislation last month that would have created new work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, but that was left out of the final agreement. The idea faced stiff opposition from the White House and congressional Democrats, who said it would lead to fewer people able to afford food or health care without actually increasing the number of people in the workforce.

Also absent from the final deal is the GOP proposal to repeal many of the clean-energy tax credits Democrats passed in party-line votes last year to boost the production and consumption of clean energy. McCarthy and Republicans have argued that the tax breaks “distort the market and waste taxpayer money.”

The White House has defended the tax credits as resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments, creating thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Here’s a copy of the proposed bill in full:

The Associated Press contributed to this report.