The U.S. -and the rest of the world- may soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief as a deal struck by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling is in the hands of Congress.

While the deal still needs to pass the House Rules Committee and receive approval by both the House and the Senate, the "Fiscal Responsibility Act" provides clarity on the spending patterns of the U.S. government from now to Jan. 1, 2025, when the deal expires.

The deal, a compromise for the two parties, received criticism from both sides of the aisle. Prominent Republicans, including Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis balked at the deal for not doing enough to solve a trajectory towards bankruptcy while maintaining "inflated levels of spending from COVID."

Conversely, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson called the deal "a negotiation with economic terrorists" and said it "inflicts harm on people who are most vulnerable."

A key provision set by the deal fixes non-defense spending (about 53% of all discretionary spending) at current levels for the 2024 fiscal year, with a 1% increase for the following year.

COVID Relief Is Over, But Medicaid Is Safe

Contrary to DeSantis' remarks, the bill does address measures that were put in place to offset the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For one, the bill recalls $28 billion in unspent Covid relief funds. These include about $5 billion in funding to accelerate the development of new Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.

Medicaid programs, however, are not a part of the deal and won't be affected, at least under the current version of the bill's language.

Student Loans Payments To Resume

As a measure to address some of the financial harm caused by the pandemic, the CARES act, passed in March of 2020, allowed a pause on student loan repayments. This pause would be terminated by the current debt ceiling deal, and repayments would need to resume on August 29, 2023.

While the pause had been extended eight times since being put into place, the Biden administration had already alerted that it would likely take its foot off the brake pedal sometime during 2023.

A separate Covid-related proposal, introduced by the Biden administration that could potentially erase up to $20,000 in student loan debt per person, is still on track. The proposal was not touched by the debt ceiling deal, and its validity will depend on a decision currently being weighed upon by the Supreme Court.

Work Requirements For Food Stamp Beneficiaries Now Raised To 55 Years Old

The current federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) provides nutrition benefits to low-income individuals and their families in the form of food stamps.

In order to qualify for the SNAP, able-bodied beneficiaries of up to 49 years of age without children must prove that they work or participate in a training program to receive food stamps on a long-term basis. This requirement would now be raised to include those of ages 50 to 55.