Biden praises GOP for averting economic collapse by raising US debt limit

In his first Oval Office address on Friday, President Joe Biden announced that raising the US borrowing limit had prevented an “economic collapse.” The bill, which had bipartisan support, was signed into law on Saturday. Biden expressed appreciation for his Republican counterparts’ cooperation, stating that they had “operated in good faith.” Failure to raise the debt ceiling by Monday’s deadline would have resulted in a “catastrophic” default on the US$31.4tn debt.

The Oval Office is typically reserved for speeches addressing significant national crises, such as war or natural disasters. The White House emphasised that Biden’s decision to use this venue highlighted the seriousness of the situation if the debt ceiling had not been raised in time. For weeks, there were doubts about whether a deal would be finalised before the US government ran out of funds on June…