US President Joe Biden confirmed during an address from the White House that he and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had reached a bipartisan budget agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling on May 28.

“We are ready to move to the full Congress. I think it’s a real important step forward. It takes the threat of catastrophic default off the table, protects our hard-earned and historic economic recovery and the agreement also represents a compromise that means no one got everything they want” President Biden said.

“The deal prevents the worst possible crisis – a default for the first time in our nation’s history” the president added.

Media reported the agreement would “raise the debt ceiling for two years, freeze spending on domestic programs, increase spending on defense and veterans issues, impose some new work requirements on federal food assistance programs and change some rules around energy permitting.”

President Biden and Speaker McCarthy are working to gain backing from the political middle as Congress votes on June 5 to avert a damaging federal default, media reported. Credit: The White House via Storyful