The House of Representatives has voted to raise the debt limit, thereby ensuring the United States will avoid defaulting on its debt, despite vocal opposition from many Republicans in the House majority. The legislation had resulted from negotiations between lieutenants of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House. The passage of the legislation is the first major hurdle to be cleared for Mr McCarthy, who made a series of concessions on how to negotiate the debt limit during the marathon 15 votes it took for him to become speaker in January. The Senate will take up the legislation for a vote and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged it will pass before 5 June, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the United States will run out of options to maintain its debt obligations. Multiple Republicans vehemently criticised the bill, saying it did not go far enough in its spending cuts as well as highlighting the fact it raised the debt limit until January 2025, rather than raising it a certain dollar amount. Rep Garret Graves (R-LA), one of the chief negotiators with the White House, said that conservative criticism ignored the fact that had it not been for the agreement, the White House would have likely raised the debt limit unilaterally or Democrats would have teamed up with moderate Republicans to raise the debt limit without spending cuts. “So by doing so all you're doing is playing into the hands of the White House,” he told The Independent. “Because if you keep going down this road, if you keep trying to sew this line, that's simply not true that there's some other option out there to save a gazillion dollars, all you're doing is you're moving towards default.” But several House conservatives criticised the bill for multiple provisions, including the fact it did not put in place work requirements for Medicaid. The agreement increases the age for work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, for able-bodied adults without dependent children from 50 to 54. That earned the criticism of many progressive Democrats and led to them opposing the bill. At the same time, the agreement would exempt youth in the foster care system, veterans and people experiencing homelessness from work requirements for SNAP and the Congressional Budget Office estimated that approximately 78,000 would gain benefits in an average month as a result of the deal. But Rep Byron Donalds (R-FL) criticised the legislation for not going far enough in work requirements such as including them for Medicaid. “And I think that's just a smart and prudent thing to do,” he told The Independent. “But when you expand eligibility for the program, at least the way CBO is putting it we're actually taking a step backwards.” Read More What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit? Anti-poverty groups and progressives blast work requirements for aid to poor Americans in debt ceiling deal