The House Freedom Caucus said Thursday it won’t accept a watered-down version of the debt-limit proposal passed by the GOP last month — imperiling negotiations on the topic between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden.
The more than 40-member group voted to adopt the legislation as their official position on the debt limit negotiations between Mr. McCarthy and the White House.
“This legislation is the official position of the House Freedom Caucus and, by its passage with 217 votes, the entire House Republican Conference,” the group said in a statement. “There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation.”
The Freedom Caucus is urging Mr. McCarthy and Senate Republicans to “use every leverage at their disposal” to ensure the original legislation is signed into law.
The legislation passed by House Republicans last month would cut spending by $4.8 trillion while capping spending growth at 1% over the next decade. It would also rescind Mr. Biden’s green energy tax credits and impose work requirements on food stamps, Medicaid, and cash payments.
But a deal struck between Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy would likely garner the support of enough moderate House Democrats to pass the chamber.
“I would vote to do what’s best for this country and I’ll leave it at that,” said Rep. Lou Correa, California Democrat.
That is not to say conservative hardliners have no influence. The Freedom Caucus nearly tanked Mr. McCarthy’s speakership bid earlier this year.
In exchange for allowing Mr. McCarthy’s ascension, conservatives pushed through a rules package that decentralized the power of congressional leadership.
The crux of the overhaul rests on a provision allowing any lawmaker to force a vote on retaining the speaker. Given the narrow Republican majority, Mr. McCarthy can only lose four GOP lawmakers on any single House vote before having to rely on Democrats.
A senior member of the House Freedom Caucus told the Washington Times that is the threat underlining the group’s position on the debt limit.
Mr. McCarthy is not blind to the political reality, and allies say he is unlikely to bring a deal back to the House that cannot garner unity among Republicans. Such unity has already been pledged by Republicans within the narrowly divided Senate, where at least nine GOP votes will be needed to overcome the chamber’s filibuster threshold.
“Republicans in the Senate stand in firm support of the Republicans in the House of Representatives,” said Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican.
The Freedom Caucuses’ position was made public as negotiators for Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Biden are haggling over spending cuts and how long the debt limit should be hiked.
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House Republicans want at least $130 billion in immediate spending cuts. Mr. McCarthy has said half of that money can be made up by rescinding more than $60 billion in unspent pandemic relief.
Democrats are open to the clawback, provided it doesn’t impact money already promised to state and local governments.
“We don’t need it all but the question is what obligations were made, commitments made [for] the money not disbursed,” said Mr. Biden. “I’d have to take a hard look at it.”
Republicans also want to expand work requirements for welfare recipients, cap future federal spending, and streamline the federal permitting process for energy projects. They also want to cancel more than $200 billion in green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year as part of Mr. Biden‘s signature climate law.
Mr. Biden has signaled that the demand to nix his green energy credits is a non-starter. Still, the White House appears open to some of the Republicans’ other demands.
Negotiators are working to see whether they can combine parts of an energy proposal passed by House Republicans this year with a permitting overhaul authored by Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, that Mr. Biden endorsed.
Mr. Biden has also opened the door to accepting expanded work requirements on direct cash payments to needy families, but not Medicaid or food stamps.
House Republicans want welfare recipients to work at least 20 hours of work per week to qualify for Medicaid, food stamps, and direct cash payments. They also want to increase the age limit for work requirements from 49 to 55.
“Remember what we’re talking about — able-bodied people without dependents,” Mr. McCarthy said. “It’s 20 hours per week. You [can] go to school or whatever else.”
There is also division over how long to hike the debt limit, and the length of time that federal spending growth should be capped.
Democrats want a two-year deal for both, saying Congress and the president can grapple with the issue in 2025. Republicans want a one-year extension on the debt limit and at least 10 years of budget caps.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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