Government Affairs
BY RICH MEADE , CHAIRMAN , PRIME POLICY GROUP
Be sure to look for continuing Government Affairs updates via the CLDA Twitter account (@ theCLDA ) as well as on the CLDA website and email alerts . If you have any questions on the CLDA Government Affairs activities or would like to become more involved , please contact Mark McSweeney , mmcsweeney @ clda . org .
Most of the focus in Washington , D . C ., has been on the need to raise our debt ceiling to allow our federal government to borrow more funds to maintain the operations of the Federal Government . We have technically already breached the debt limit that is in the law . However , the Department of Treasury used “ extraordinary measures ” to keep the government funded during the lapse . Extraordinary measures is a process that allows Treasury to pull money out of certain accounts that are technically supposed to be walled off ( like trust funds ).
After weeks of meetings and public statements amidst political posturing , the White House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling . On Wednesday , May 31 , the legislative text of the agreement — the Fiscal Responsibility Act ( FRA ) of 2023 – passed the House by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 314-117 vote . The Senate followed suit a day later by passing the legislation with a vote of 63-36 .
The compromise package negotiated between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy leaves neither Democrats nor Republicans in either chamber fully pleased with the outcome . But the result , after weeks of hard-fought budget negotiations , shelves the volatile debt ceiling issue that risked upending the U . S . economy .
8 customized logistics & delivery Magazine I summer 2023