Debt bill passes first hurdle in US Congress

The vote was 269 to 161. A final Deomcrat-led Senate sign-off for the measure is virtually certain on Tuesday. Then President Obama will sign it into law.

After months of sometime bitter political wrangling, the leadership of both the Democratic and Republican parties moved behind the bill, which was finally hammered out in last minute negotiations over the weekend.

The deal cuts government spending by at least $2.1trn over a decade and does not increase taxes.

The debt limit would rise by at least $2.1trn tiding the Treasury through the 2012 Presidential election.

As the vote got underway in the House, Gabrielle Giffords made a surprise appearance - her first since being shot in the head earlier this year.

Lawmakers on all sides stood and applauded the Arizona Congresswoman who arrived unannounced and cast her vote in favour of the bill.

It was a rare moment of unity in a Congress that has seen little of that lately.

During the hour-long debate ahead of the vote not one lawmaker expressed satisfaction with the bill.

But all seemed to recognise it was the least bad option with the prospect of economic calamity on the horizon.

Without legislation in place by the end of Tuesday, the US had been in danger of losing its AAA credit rating.