US debt ceiling package moves to Senate after House approval

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

The US House has approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans against fierce conservative blowback and progressive dissent.

The hard-fought deal pleased few, but politicians assessed it was better than the alternative — a devastating economic upheaval if Congress failed to act.