The US House of Representatives has begun voting on a last-minute deal hammered out between the White House and Congress to avoid a debt default.
The package would raise the debt ceiling by up to $2.4tn (£1.5tn) – from $14.3tn – and make budget savings worth a similar amount over ten years.
A new bipartisan commission would allocate $1.5tn of those savings.
The deal needs to pass both houses of Congress to become law, and elements of both parties are expected to oppose it.
The Senate is expected to vote on the plan on Tuesday.
The US faces a August 2, deadline to raise its $14.3tn debt limit or risk the first full-scale default in its history.
Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate have spent all day trying to convince their own party members to back the bipartisan deal.
Vice-President Joe Biden met congressional Democrats at lunchtime on Monday, emerging from what he called a “good meeting” to say he was confident the bill would pass.
Vice-President Joe Biden says he is confident a deal will be struck
He described the debt ceiling as a “sword of Damocles”.
Earlier the markets responded to the package with relief. The Dow Jones index in New York gained nearly 1% soon after opening, following gains in Tokyo and London – though they later lost ground. (BBC)
