The bipartisan deal signed by President Joe Biden over the weekend and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is about to face its biggest test, as some hard-line GOP members snipe against the bill before the House Rules Committee votes Tuesday afternoon.
The 99 page Fiscal Responsibility Act will be discussed by the committee before the House votes on Wednesday. The committee, which is split 9-4 between Republicans & Democrats, includes conservative hardliners who have voiced their opposition to the deal.
If no Democrats support the measure, some of these members may try to stop the bill from being passed during Tuesday’s panel vote.
If the bill is passed by the House, it then needs to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate before the Treasury Department’s June 5 deadline for the U.S. to act or risk default.
Last weekend, some Republican hardliners expressed their opposition to this bill. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina both called the deal a “turd sandwich” and called it “insanity .” Both Norman and Roy serve on the Rules Committee. Rand Paul, R-Ky. said that the deal had “fake expenditure cuts” and described the bill as “a sign of conservatives being sold out again.”
These voices may, however, be in the minority of Republicans. McCarthy and his supporters have expressed their confidence that the bill would pass.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), chair of the Main Street Caucus of the center-right, told reporters he believes the bill “absolutely” will pass after talking to “dozens of members.”
Two GOP sources reported that Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) touted the new Congressional Budget Office estimations provided to Republican leadership, but not made public. Estimates show that the Biden/McCarthy Bill would reduce spending by $2.1 trillion, slightly more than Republicans had originally predicted.
Bice stated that the bill would pass with both party support: “We will get there.” This legislation will have bipartisan support. It is supported by the president. I think we’re really in a good spot. We asked for spending cuts, no new taxes and a clean debt ceiling. “And that’s what we got.”
White House staff has been on the phone since the weekend selling the debt ceiling deal, including briefings for small groups, and individual calls to answer any technical questions asked by lawmakers and their staff, according to a White House spokesperson.
Rep. Ro Kazna, D. California, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Sunday that he believes a “large” majority of House Democrats “are in flux” about whether or not they will support this deal.
The bill would increase the federal debt limit by two years, along with modest spending cuts.
The appropriations process would be set up by putting spending caps into place for the following two years. The bill would implement conservative policies by canceling $28 billion of unspent Covid funds, eliminating $1.4 billion from IRS funding and shifting about $20 billion out of the $80 million provided to the agency under the Inflation Reduction Act. After a long “pause” which began with the outbreak of the pandemic, the federal student loan program would be restarted. The program would require people to work in order to receive Supplemental Nutrition Program and Temporary Aid for Needy Families (the threshold for these benefits is currently 50 years of age). Veterans and homeless people are exempted from the requirement.
It would also streamline the permitting process for projects by overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act.
Sahil Kapur contributed, as did Julie Tsirkin and Frank Thorp V. Allie Raffa also contributed.
