President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative deal to raise the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, ending a months-long stalemate. The deal would avert an economically destabilizing default if passed through Congress before June 5th when the Treasury Department runs short of money to cover all its obligations. Republicans who control the House of Representatives have pushed for steep cuts to spending and other conditions, including new work requirements on some benefit programs for low-income Americans and for funds to be stripped from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. tax agency. Exact details of the final deal were not immediately available, but negotiators have agreed to cap non-defense discretionary spending at 2023 levels for two years in exchange for a debt ceiling increase over a similar period.
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