House Republicans pass US debt bill, push Biden on spending

House Republicans narrowly passed sweeping legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer.

Biden has threatened to veto the Republican package, which has almost no chance of passing the Democratic Senate in the meantime, and the president has so far refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling which the White House insists must be lifted with...