关键的提高美国债务上限的协议华盛顿的立法者现在面临一周的时间，在预计的违约开始的最后期限之前，在参众两院通过该法案。
除非提高31.4万亿美元的借款上限，否则美国将没有现金按时足额支付所有账单，即所谓的“X-date”早在6月5日根据财政部长珍妮特·耶伦的说法。
尽管总统乔·拜登和众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡在一项协议上取得了突破，但要在下周一之前将99页的债务和支出法案提交到拜登的办公桌上，仍然存在立法障碍。
众议院和参议院的微弱优势意味着民主党和共和党的温和派都可能不得不支持该法案。
5月27日:交易宣布
拜登和麦卡锡经过几周的反复讨论后，于周六宣布他们已经就两年的政府预算达成原则协议，以换取在2025年1月前提高债务上限。
众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡和他在债务上限问题上的最高谈判代表，众议员加勒特·格雷夫斯(左)以及众议院金融服务委员会主席，众议员帕特里克·麦克亨利一起对共和党议员说
J.斯科特·阿普尔怀特/美联社
5月28日:法案文本公布
这项名为“财政责任法案”的立法于周日晚上公开发布。
这开始了72小时的倒计时，这是麦卡锡向他的成员承诺在众议院投票前审查立法的时间。
这位发言人在办公室外对记者发表讲话，吹捧他所说的为公众提高国会透明度和程序的努力。
“我试图改变它再次工作的房子，”他说。
5月30日:议员将返回，规则委员会开会
成员们将于周二从阵亡将士纪念日休会期返回。
由九名共和党人和四名民主党人组成的众议院规则委员会定于美国东部时间下午3点开会，设定审议债务上限法案的参数。
九名共和党人中有两人公开批评该协议:南卡罗来纳州的众议员拉尔夫·诺曼(Ralph Norman)和得克萨斯州的奇普·罗伊(Chip Roy)，他们都是强硬派众议院自由党团的成员。
财政鹰派的肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西(Thomas Massie)也被认为是一个可能的坚持者，尽管麦卡锡周日点名表扬了他，因为他在与白宫的协议中成功提出了一项削减支出的后备措施。
如果三人都在委员会中反对该法案，民主党人需要加入其余共和党人的投票，才能将该法案提交给众议院。
麦卡锡周一抵达国会大厦，他说他不担心委员会会议。
5月31日:众议院投票
该法案预计将于周三晚上提交众议院。
如果所有议员都出席，通过立法所需的票数是218票。
目前，共和党以222-213的票数占据众议院，从理论上讲，如果有超过四名保守派倒戈，就需要一些民主党人。
但是两党的立法者都对协议的一些细节表示不满。
寻求更大范围削减开支的自由核心小组的一些成员表示，他们将努力阻止该法案在众议院通过。
华盛顿民主党众议员普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔(Pramila Jayapal)周日也表示，鉴于与共和党人的妥协存在疑虑，国会领导人应该“担心”从该团体获得足够的支持。
据美国广播公司报道，白宫和共和党领导层一直在举行电话和简报会，以推销该协议，并计划举行更多会议。
麦卡锡周日向美国广播公司的特里什·特纳预测，大多数共和党人将支持这项法案。众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯说哥伦比亚广播公司的《面向全国》他预计“一旦我们有能力真正得到白宫的全面介绍，就会得到民主党的支持”，但他不会预测投票数会是多少。
他还说，“我确实希望并期待看到相当多的众议院共和党人人投票赞成这项协议。我的理解是，他们致力于制造至少150张选票，如果不是更多的话。”
在周日下午离开白宫前往特拉华州的途中，拜登总统告诉ABC新闻的伊丽莎白·舒尔茨，债务限额协议“没有理由”不能在6月5日之前完成。
总统还表示，他一直在与“一些”立法者通电话，包括参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。(两名国会民主党消息人士将白宫的出售描述为“全场紧逼”。)
“我从未说过我对国会有信心...但我对此感觉很好，”拜登说。
5月31日或之后:参议院审议
多数党领袖查克·舒默告诉同事，假设债务上限法案在周三晚上获得众议院通过，参议院将立即开始处理这项立法。
一致同意将允许议会跳过辩论，迅速举行投票，但只需一名议员就能阻止程序。
犹他州共和党参议员李政颖此前表示，如果法案没有他所说的“实质性支出和预算改革”，他将使用一切可用的程序工具来推迟法案周一，共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆，暗示的他会制造类似的障碍，因为他认为，债务协议是“国防的灾难”。
舒默在周日的一封“亲爱的同事”信中暗示了挂断电话的可能性。
“参议员应该为周五和周末可能的投票做好准备，”他写道。
如果阻挠议事成为现实，最终通过可能会推迟长达一周，超过预计的6月5日默认截止日期。
少数党领袖麦康奈尔周日对该协议表示了关键的支持，他呼吁他的同事们“迅速采取行动，在没有不必要的拖延的情况下通过这项协议。”
麦康奈尔在一份声明中表示:“美利坚合众国不会拖欠债务。”。“今天的协议在维护我们国家的充分信任和信用方面取得了紧迫的进展，也是恢复金融秩序所急需的一步。”
6月5日:“X日”
为了在下周一之前通过立法，国会几乎没有犯错的余地。
财政部上周宣布，其新的“X日”估计为6月5日，为立法者提供了一点额外的时间来通过协议。国务卿耶伦早些时候警告说，美国最早可能在6月1日就没钱支付所有账单。
“根据最新的可用数据，我们现在估计，如果国会在6月5日之前没有提高或暂停债务上限，财政部将没有足够的资源来满足政府的义务，”耶伦周五在给麦卡锡的一封信中写道。
拜登周日表示，他认为该法案会提交到他的办公桌上。
“议长和我从一开始就明确表示，唯一的出路是两党达成一致，”他说。“这项协议现在已经提交给美国众议院和参议院。我强烈敦促参众两院通过这项协议。”
Congress has days to OK debt limit deal before default: Timeline of what's next
A criticaldeal to raise the nation's debt ceilingwas announced over the weekend, and lawmakers in Washington now face one week to pass the bill in both chambers of Congress before the predicted deadline when default would begin.
Unless the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit is increased, the U.S. will run out of cash to pay all of its bills in full and on time -- the so-called "X-date" --as early as June 5, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Despite the breakthrough on an agreement between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, legislative hurdles remain to get the 99-page debt and spending bill to Biden's desk by next Monday.
The narrow margins in the House and Senate mean both Democratic and Republican moderates will likely have to back the bill.
May 27: Deal announced
Biden and McCarthy, after weeks of back and forth, announced on Saturday that they had reached a deal in principle on a two-year government budget in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling through January 2025.
May 28: Bill text is unveiled
The legislation, named the "Fiscal Responsibility Act," was publicly released on Sunday evening.
That started a 72-hour countdown, which is the period of time McCarthy promised to his members to review the legislation before a vote in the House.
Addressing reporters outside his office, the speaker touted what he called efforts to improve transparency and process in Congress -- for the public.
"I'm trying to change the House where it works again," he said.
May 30: Lawmakers will return, rules committee to meet
Members are due to return Tuesday from the Memorial Day recess.
The House Rules Committee, made up of nine Republicans and four Democrats, is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. ET to set the parameters under which the debt ceiling bill will be considered.
Two of the nine Republicans have publicly criticized the agreement: Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas, both with the hardline House Freedom Caucus.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a fiscal hawk, has also been considered a possible holdout, though McCarthy singled him out for praise on Sunday for successfully proposing a fallback measure for spending cuts in the deal with the White House.
If all three were opposed to the bill in committee, a Democrat would need to join the remaining Republicans to vote to advance the bill to the full House.
McCarthy, arriving at the Capitol on Monday, said he wasn't worried about the committee meeting.
May 31: House to vote
The bill is expected to go to the House on Wednesday evening.
The number of votes needed to pass the legislation, if all members are present, is 218.
Currently, Republicans hold the House 222-213 and, theoretically, some Democrats would be needed if there are more than four conservative defections.
But lawmakers from the wings of both parties have expressed dissatisfaction with some of the details of the deal.
Some members of the Freedom Caucus, who sought more sweeping spending reductions, have said they will try to stop it from passing the House.
Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus, likewise on Sunday said congressional leaders should "worry" about garnering enough support from the group given qualms with the compromise with Republicans.
The White House and Republican leadership have been holding calls and briefings to sell the deal, with more meetings planned, ABC News has reported.
McCarthy predicted to ABC's Trish Turner on Sunday that a majority of Republicans will support it. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said onCBS' "Face the Nation"he expects that there "will be Democratic support once we have the ability to actually be fully briefed by the White House" but he wouldn't predict what the number of votes would look like.
He also said, "I do hope and expect to see a significant number of House Republicans voting for this agreement. It's my understanding that they are committed to producing at least 150 votes, if not more."
Upon departing the White House Sunday afternoon en route to Delaware, President Biden told ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze that there's "no reason" the debt limit deal shouldn't get done by June 5.
The president also said he's been working the phones speaking to a "number" of legislators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Two congressional Democratic sources described the White House's sell as a “full court press.”)
"I never say I'm confident with the Congress ... but I feel very good about it," Biden said.
May 31 or later: Senate consideration
Assuming the debt ceiling bill passes the House on Wednesday night, the Senate would immediately begin processing the legislation, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told colleagues.
Unanimous consent would allow the chamber to skip debate and quickly hold a vote, but it would take just one lawmaker to hold up proceedings.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, previously said he would use every procedural tool available to delay a bill if it didn't have what he called "substantial spending and budgetary reforms." On Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,suggestedhe would create a similar roadblock because, he argued, the debt agreement was a "catastrophe for defense."
Schumer alluded to the possibility of hang-ups in a "Dear Colleague" letter on Sunday.
"Senators should prepare for potential Friday and weekend votes," he wrote.
If a filibuster materializes, it could delay final passage for as long as a week -- beyond the estimated default deadline of June 5.
A key endorsement for the deal came Sunday from Minority Leader McConnell, who called on his colleagues to "act swiftly and pass this agreement without unnecessary delay."
"The United States of America will not default on its debt," McConnell said in a statement. "Today's agreement makes urgent progress toward preserving our nation's full faith and credit and a much-needed step toward getting its financial house in order."
June 5: The "X-date"
There's little room for error in Congress in order to pass legislation by next Monday.
The Treasury Department announced last week that its new "X-date" estimate was June 5, providing lawmakers with a bit of extra time to pass a deal. Secretary Yellen had earlier warned the U.S. could run out of money to pay all of its bills as early as June 1.
"Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government's obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5," Yellen wrote in a letter to McCarthy on Friday.
Biden said Sunday he thought the legislation would make it to his desk.
"The speaker and I made clear from the start that the only way forward was a bipartisan agreement," he said. "That agreement now goes to the United States House and to the Senate. And I strongly urge both chambers to pass that agreement."
