June 2 (UPI) — President Joe Biden will address the nation Friday night, during which he will talk about the debt ceiling bill that Congress recently passed.
Biden, who will be speaking from the Oval Office for the first time, will speak at 7 p.m. ET. The speech will be streamed live on the White House’s YouTube channel and on C-SPAN.
CNN reported that Biden is likely to speak about the process that led to the deal and what will happen going forward.
Late Thursday night the U.S. Senate passed legislation suspending the debt limit and imposing new spending caps, allowing the United States to avoid defaulting for the first time.
The measure, which required 60 votes, passed despite four Democrats and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, voting “no.”
There were 17 Republicans that joined the majority of Democrats in voting for the legislation, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Other Republicans that voted for the legislation included Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act suspends the debt limit until the first quarter of 2025. It keeps non-defense discretionary spending roughly flat and ensure that the student loan payment suspensions will end in September.
Despite the bill’s passage, some Senators have voiced their displeasure with the bill.
Sanders, D-Vt., issued a statement Wednesday night, calling the bill “totally unnecessary” and promising to vote against it.
Sanders blasted the bill for making “it easier for fossil fuel companies to pollute,” for spending “more on the military than the next 10 nations combined,” for allowing the pharmaceutical industry to charge “the American people the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs” as Sanders claimed more than “45 million Americans are drowning in student debt.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., wants to get rid of a provision that would speed up approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline natural gas pipeline that would run through West Virginia and Virginia.
Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has called for across-the-board spending cuts over the next two years.
According to The Hill, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has called for an increase in defense spending.
McConnell himself also criticized the 1% increase in defense spending in the bill, saying it is not enough.
“I think that’s the worst part of the deal,” McConnell said Wednesday, according to ABC News.