Corporate America celebrates debt ceiling deal and urges Congress to quickly pass legislation
By Matt Egan, CNN
New York (CNN) — Leading business groups are praising President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for forging a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, and they are calling for Congress to pass the legislation before the government suffers a devastating default.
“With the US at risk of defaulting in less than 10 days, there is no time to spare. We urge members of Congress to give the legislation their strong support,” Josh Bolten, the CEO of the Business Roundtable and former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, said in a statement on Sunday.
Bolten applauded the agreement for not only raising the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025, but for making a “down payment” on permitting reform and taking steps towards putting America on a “more sustainable fiscal trajectory.”
Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, said in a separate statement that by reaching a compromise, Biden and congressional leaders have “shown they can come together on a bipartisan basis and act in the best interests of our country.”
“Members of Congress must finish the job and send the bill to the President’s desk to be signed into law without delay. The gravity of this moment cannot be overstated,” said Clark, who added the Chamber will consider this a “key vote” for lawmakers.
The National Association of Manufacturers, the largest manufacturing trade group in the nation, congratulated Biden, McCarthy and their lawmakers for reaching an agreement.
“Defaulting on our debt would create economic chaos, harming manufacturing workers and their families and jeopardizing our leadership in the world,” NAM CEO Jay Timmons, who previously worked as a senior aid to Republican officials, said in a statement. “Congress should act quickly to pass this agreement and to demonstrate to Americans and to the world the continued strength of our institutions and our democracy.”
Big bank CEOs are also pressing lawmakers to green light the debt limit deal.
The Financial Services Forum, a trade group whose members include Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, issued a statement Tuesday praising the efforts of Biden and McCarthy and urging Congress to adopt the agreement.
“Responsible and timely action will preserve the full faith and credit of the United States and our nation’s important position of global economic leadership,” Financial Services Forum CEO Kevin Fromer said in the statement.
Biden and McCarthy reached an agreement Saturday, but the deal isn’t done yet. Party leaders in Washington are working furiously Monday to convince holdouts to back the compromise legislation that would avert default. Still, prospects for passage of the bill are rising as many centrist Democrats said they would back the bill, and Republicans said they believed that they would be able to carry the support of the majority of their House conference.
The House vote is expected to take place Wednesday.
– CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
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