US debt ceiling: House to vote on bill as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she will vote against it – live | US economy

New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that she plans to vote against the debt limit bill.

“My red line has already been surpassed … I mean, where do we start? [No] clean debt ceiling. Work requirements. Cuts to programs. I would never – I would never – vote for that,” said Ocasio-Cortez, the Hill reports.

Democratic Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib echoed similar sentiments, telling reporters that she would “absolutely not” support a bill that includes tougher work requirements.

Meanwhile, an aide to a progressive lawmaker in the Congressional Progressive Caucus told Axios anonymously, “My boss is leaning no and we think a good number of [CPC] members will follow suit.”

The House is set to convene today to hold a final vote on the debt ceiling bill amid opposition from far-right lawmakers, including members of the House Freedom Caucus who have vowed to vote against the bill (some Freedom Caucus members previously opposed House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s speakership bid in January).

The tentative deal reached by McCarthy and President Joe Biden would raise the debt ceiling until 2025 and includes measures such as rescinding Internal Revenue Service funding and expanded work requirements.

With the House scheduled to convene at 2pm today, the first round of votes is expected at 3.30pm and the last round of votes is expected at 8.30pm.

Over 20 Republicans have vowed to vote against the bill, with Pennsylvania Scott Perry, chair of the Freedom Caucus saying on Tuesday, “We had the time to act, and this deal fails – fails completely … We will do everything in our power to stop it and end it now.”

Texas representative and Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy called the deal a “turd sandwich” as it did not include spending cuts demanded by far-right lawmakers.

North Carolina representative and Freedom Caucus member Dan Bishop predicted that the majority of House Republicans will oppose the bill, saying, “This is a career-defining vote for every Republican … This bill, if it passes, must pass with less than half of the Republican conference.”

Meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries emphasized the importance of Republicans providing the majority of the 218 votes required to approve the bill.

“This is an agreement that, at their insistence, they negotiated with the administration,” Jeffries said. “It’s our full and complete expectation that they are going to produce at least 150 votes,” he said.

Should the bill pass, it will move on to the Senate where lawmakers will have only a few days to approve it before the 5 June default deadline.

Good morning, US politics readers. The House is expected to hold a final vote on the debt ceiling bill as opposition from far-right Republicans continue to grow.

Last weekend, talks spearheaded by House speaker Kevin McCarthy and president Joe Biden culminated in a tentative deal to raise the $31.4tn US debt ceiling.

Speaking to reporters, McCarthy said that the bill was “the most conservative deal we’ve ever had”, referring to the two-year agreement which includes spending freezes and slashing Internal Revue Service funding.

As the deal heads into a chamber vote in the Republican-led House today, more than 20 Republicans have vowed to vote against the deal. On Tuesday, Texas representative Chip Roy, a member of the powerful House rules committee which met to review the deal, told Fox News, “This is not the deal that we should be taking.”

The House will convene at 2pm today, with the first round of votes expected at 3.30pm, and the last round of votes expected at 8.30pm.

Here are other developments in US politics:

• Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is expected to announce his presidential bid next Tuesday in new Hampshire, Axios reports.

• Former president Donald Trump has repeated his pledge to strip birthright US citizenship if he becomes president again.

• President Joe Biden will meet with leaders of his federal emergency preparedness and response team today to receive annual briefing on extreme weather preparedness.