The debt ceiling deal brokered by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces its first major test Tuesday, just days before a potential default.
With little time for delay, the powerful House Rules Committee, which controls how, when and whether a measure will be handled on the House floor, convened Tuesday afternoon to consider the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“Today’s bill is a product of compromise and reflects the realities of a divided government,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said as he began the meeting.
After debate, the committee will decide whether to advance the legislation so the full House can hold a planned vote on Wednesday and send it to the Senate ahead of Monday’s default deadline.
In a big win for Republican leadership, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — a GOP hard-liner and fiscal hawk — said he anticipated voting in favor of the rule.
“My interest in being on this committee was not to imprint my ideology,” Massie said during the meeting. “I think that is an inappropriate use of the committee.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) looks on during a House Rules Committee meeting on debt ceiling legislation at the Capitol on May 30, 2023.
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
The other House Freedom Caucus members on the committee, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of North Carolina, vowed to try to block the bill from moving forward.
“Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal,” Roy said at a House Freedom Caucus press conference on Tuesday.
Roy also issued a veiled threat that there could be consequences if the deal goes through.
“We will continue to fight today, tomorrow,” Roy said. “And no matter what happens, there’s going to be a reckoning about what just occurred, unless we stop this bill by tomorrow.”
Rep. Chip Roy (C), along with other members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, voice their opposition to the tentative agreement between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt limit, outside the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2023.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock
Rep. Scott Perry, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, dodged questions on whether he’d support a motion to vacate — a rule that would allow any House member to force a vote to attempt to remove the speaker.
“I’ll let each member speak for themselves. For me, I am focused on defeating this bill. What happens post that, and the agreements we have, we will decide once we determine the disposition of the bill in its finality,” he said.
McCarthy shrugged off the criticism from those in his party, specifically some who claim the party was “outsmarted” by Democrats.
“How were we outsmarted, the largest cut in the history of Congress, the biggest ability to pull money back?” McCarthy said.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks to the press after an “agreement principle” was reached between House Republicans and President Joe Biden’s team to avoid a default on the U.S. debt at the U.S. Capitol, May 28, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images, FILE
Getting the bill through Congress will hinge on support from moderates in both parties. The White House and Republican leaders have been holding calls and briefings to sell the deal, with more meetings planned, ABC News has reported.
Lawmakers face a time crunch to pass the debt ceiling deal because Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the “X-date” — when the government could run out cash to pay all its bills in full and on time — could happen as early as June 5.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday Republicans have said they will deliver 150 votes from their party, and “House Democrats will make sure that the country does not default.”
The New Democrat Coalition, made up of roughly 100 House Democrats, has endorsed the debt ceiling deal.
Asked about the vote tallies, Office of Budget and Management Director Shalanda Young (a key negotiator in the debt talks) stopped short of declaring victory, telling reporters she’d leave that to Congress.
“All I know is when you enter into good faith negotiations, you don’t negotiate to see a bill posted,” she said at the daily White House briefing. “You negotiate to make sure it gets to the president’s desk and we’ll fulfill our part when it gets to the president’s desk.”
Director of the Office of Budget and Management Shalanda Young speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2023.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
The Fiscal Responsibility Act includes a two-year government budget in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025. The bill would keep non-defense spending flat in fiscal 2024 and increase levels by 1% in fiscal 2025.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said his chamber will take up the bill as soon as it passes the House. He advised his colleagues to prepare for possible Friday and weekend votes if there’s not unanimous cooperation.
If there’s a filibuster, it could push the chamber past the June 5 default deadline. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has previously threatened to “use every procedural tool at my disposal to impede a debt-ceiling deal” he didn’t agree with.
Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare moment of unity, both praised the debt limit deal in floor remarks on Tuesday.
“I support the bipartisan agreement that President Biden has produced with Speaker McCarthy. Avoiding default is an absolute imperative,” Schumer said.
McConnell said while no one got everything they wanted, “the American people got a whole lot more progress towards fiscal sanity than Washington Democrats wanted to give them. Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans deserve our thanks.”
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson, Molly Nagle, Rachel Scott and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
Source: abc news
