House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told his caucus in a letter on Sunday that President Joe Biden and President Kevin McCarthy would speak this afternoon to seal the debt ceiling deal and then the bill would be released by Republicans.
Negotiators reached an agreement in principle on Saturday evening to extend the debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default. The legislative text for the bill will be prepared by Republicans and reviewed by the Biden administration before being finalized, Jeffries, DN.Y., wrote in the letter to Democrats.
Biden and McCarthy, R-Calif., are expected to speak no later than 2 p.m., and shortly after that, the text of the bill will be released to the House, Senate and the American people, Jeffries said.
At a Sunday morning press conference, McCarthy said he expected most Republicans to support the bill, which will be about 150 pages or less, after finalizing language with Biden during their call this afternoon.
“It’s going to be transformational, where Congress is literally going to vote to spend less money this year than we spent last year,” McCarthy said.
The tentative deal, which is expected to boost the country’s borrowing power in return for spending cuts, was reached after weeks of negotiations led by Biden and McCarthy.
A source familiar with the deal told NBC News that it includes a two-year credits agreement and a two-year debt limit extension, effectively resolving the issue until after the 2024 election. It will include work requirements to receive federal assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, for Americans up to age 54, with exceptions for the homeless and veterans. But there will be “no change to Medicaid,” the source said.
Once the legislative language is finalized, it will need to pass both the GOP-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate.
In a letter to Senate Democrats on Sunday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said senators should prepare for potential votes on Friday and next weekend.
Meanwhile, McCarthy said he has already spoken to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., about the deal and will brief Senate Republicans on a conference call soon.
After White House officials will hold separate briefings with House Democrats and Senate Democrats tonight, a source close to the plans told NBC News. Both briefings will be led by Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget; John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser on clean energy; and Aviva Aron-Dine, deputy director of the National Economic Council, two Democratic sources told NBC News.
House Republicans called the deal “The Fiscal Responsibility Act” in a memo distributed to members Saturday night. “Republicans will restore fiscal common sense and hold Washington accountable,” the memo reads.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen extended the deadline to act or risk breaching the debt ceiling until June 5. She had previously been less specific, saying the US could run out of money “potentially as early as June 1”.
The department reached the legal borrowing limit in January and has since used “extraordinary measures” to pay the country’s bills.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com