US House expected to hike debt ceiling, averting default

Democrat-controlled House of Representatives expected to approve bill increasing debt limit amid looming default.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives are set to approve a $480bn increase in the United States government’s borrowing limit, forestalling until December a reckoning with Republicans on the nation’s spending and debt.

A bill to boost the US debt limit to $28.9 trillion is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday evening, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced.

“It is egregious that our nation has been put in this spot, but we must take immediate action to address the debt limit and ensure the full faith and credit of the United States remains intact,” Hoyer said.