The US House of Representatives will pass a vast austerity bill and avert a disastrous debt default, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor predicted hours before the vote on Monday.

“We’re going to have the votes we need to pass this measure,” Cantor told reporters with the House on track for a final vote around 7:00 pm (2300 GMT). “I think we’ll have well over a majority of our conference supporting this.”

The bill would raise the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling ahead of a midnight Tuesday (0400 GMT Wednesday) deadline, when cash-strapped Washington runs out of cash to pay its bills and risks a first-ever default on debt payments.

The measure, announced late Sunday, stemmed from months of often angry negotiations between US President Barack Obama and his top Republican foes and Democratic allies in the Congress.

All eyes were on the polarised House of Representatives, where liberal Democrats worried about the social safety net and archconservative “Tea Party”-allied Republicans demanded far more draconian government spending cuts.

The measure needed 216 votes to clear the House, after which it would face a Senate vote as early as Monday night.

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has largely avoided pressing fellow Democrats to back the bill, heaping pressure on Republican House Speaker John Boehner to wring “yes” votes from his rank-and-file.

“This is not just an agreement between the president and myself. This is an agreement between the bipartisan leaders of the Congress and the president of the United States,” Boehner shot back at a press conference.

“And all of the leaders have a responsibility because they’ve all signed off on the agreement to bring sufficient votes to make sure that it passes,” he said.

AFP