USA-Temporary Debt Ceiling Agreement

(Updated with McCarthy)

By Catherine Jackson, Steve Holland and Gram Slattery

Washington, May 28- US President Joe Biden and Republican US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative agreement on raising the federal government’s debt ceiling.

However, the agreement was described to indicate that it was not final.

“I had a chat with the president. After months of him wasting our time and refusing to negotiate, we have reached an agreement that Americans deserve,” Kevin McCarthy wrote on Twitter.

The agreement provides for raising the debt ceiling for two years, limiting spending during this period.

Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy spent an hour and a half on the phone Saturday night discussing the deal.

“We still have work tonight to get the deal written,” Kevin McCarthy told reporters.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives said he expected the draft of the speech to be completed on Sunday. He will later meet with the US president and the deal will be put to a vote on Wednesday.

The deal, if approved by Congress, would allow the US to avoid default.

Republicans hold 222 seats in the House of Representatives to 213, while Democrats control the Senate with 51 seats to 49.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton, Steve Holland and Catherine Jackson, Andy Sullivan; French version by Camille Raynaud)