House Speaker Kevin McCarthy beat back a revolt from conservative Republicans and opposition from progressive Democrats on Wednesday to pass his bipartisan debt limit deal.
In a 314-to-117 vote, the House backed legislation to raise the debt limit until January 2025. The legislation now heads to the Senate where it is expected to be voted on before the June 5 default deadline.
“To continue Washington’s spending addiction is both irresponsible and just wrong,” said Mr. McCarthy, California Republican. “I’ll be honest, tonight’s bill doesn’t stop it. But for the first time, we begin to turn the ship.”
Overall, 165 House Democrats joined with 149 Republicans to overcome opposition from both the left and right. The Democratic support was pivotal since Mr. McCarthy could only afford four defections from Republicans given the GOP’s narrow hold on the House.
“From the very beginning, House Democrats were clear that we will not allow extreme MAGA Republicans to default on our debt, crash the economy, or trigger a job-killing recession,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat.
“Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, Democrats kept that promise,” he said.
The hard-line House Freedom Caucus made a concerted effort to derail the bill, labeling it a “watered-down betrayal” of conservative principles.
Freedom Caucus members also have threatened to stage a coup against Mr. McCarthy because of the deal.
“At best we have a two-year spending freeze that’s full of loopholes and gimmicks that would allow for increased funding for the federal bureaucracy in order to achieve a $4 trillion increase in the debt [limit],” said Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican.
Conservative hard-liners were not the only ones opposed to the deal. Some moderate Republicans also say the bill is a far cry from the debt limit proposal passed by House Republicans last month.
“It simply does not live up to the expectations we set and I cannot in good conscience vote for it,” said Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican who switched parties amid disillusion with the leftward shift of the Democratic Party.
On the left, the deal was vigorously opposed by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
“I think Republicans need to own this vote. This was their deal, this was their negotiation,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat. “They’re the ones trying to come in and cut [food stamps]. They’re trying to come in and cut environmental protections. They’re trying to ram through an oil pipeline through a community that does not want it.”
Overall, 71 Republicans and 46 House Democrats voted against the deal.
The agreement would raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit until after the 2024 presidential election. It also would claw back billions of dollars in unspent pandemic relief and cut IRS funding by more than $20 billion over two years.
Mr. Biden secured a win by keeping domestic spending flat for the upcoming fiscal year in the face of GOP calls for at least $130 billion in immediate cuts. Both sides found bipartisan agreement on boosting defense spending by more than $26 billion.
Republicans scored a victory by forcing Mr. Biden to agree to cap the growth of federal spending at 1% next year.
“We used the power we had to force the president to negotiate,” Mr. McCarthy said. “We produced a bill that in divided government takes a step toward smaller government, less regulation, more economic growth, and more take-home pay.”
The agreement further expands work requirements for recipients of food stamps and direct cash payments until 2030. Able-bodied, childless recipients of each program 54 and younger would have to work at least 20 hours per week to keep their benefits. They also would be subject to new restrictions for how long they can collect the benefits. The deal excludes veterans and the homeless from the work requirements while expanding their food stamps benefits.
While the new restrictions would save taxpayer money, the expanded benefits for veterans and the homeless would cause overall spending for food stamps to increase. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the changes would cost taxpayers an additional $2.1 billion over the next decade.
“We have watered-down work requirements that CBO said will actually increase the cost of SNAP [food stamps] by $2 billion,” Mr. Roy said.
Despite that reality, progressive Democrats say the new work requirements are still too onerous.
“While this agreement exempts [food stamp] work requirements for some vulnerable communities, it expands work requirements for others,” said Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat opposed to the deal. “Pitting our most vulnerable communities against each other is policy violence. There should be no trade-off when it comes to ensuring people have food.”
Apart from expanding work requirements, the deal institutes a pay-as-you-go provision requiring Mr. Biden to offset rules or regulations that increase federal spending.
Mr. McCarthy has hailed the inclusion a win, but GOP critics note that legislation allows the White House to waive it if necessary for efficiency. The bill further states that OMB’s waiver cannot be challenged by the courts.
“The OMB director has sole waiver authority to spend if it’s ‘necessary for program delivery.’ So that one line wipes out PAYGO,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina Republican. “These words on paper are totally meaningless if you read the fine print.”
House Republicans initially sought a $130 billion cut to nondefense spending this year and a decade’s worth of spending caps. They also wanted to cancel Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and rescind more than $200 billion in green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year.
Mr. McCarthy has already pledged the debt limit deal is only a precursor to a fight over budget cuts as Congress begins to assembly this fall’s government funding bill.
“I’m not going to give up on the American people, and this isn’t the end,” said Mr. McCarthy, California Republican. “This doesn’t solve all the problems. This is the first step.”
The promise of a bigger fight is problematic, however. Within the debt limit, Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Biden tucked in a provision ensuring a 1% spending cut across the government if Congress does not adopt a funding bill by Jan. 1, 2024.
A government funding battle is not the only looming threat to Mr. McCarthy’s leadership. Conservative hard-liners in the Freedom Caucus are weighing a maneuver to oust the speaker over the debt limit deal.
The Freedom Caucus nearly tanked Mr. McCarthy’s speakership bid this year. In exchange for allowing Mr. McCarthy’s ascension, the group pushed through a rules package that decentralized the power of congressional leadership.
The new rules include a provision empowering any single lawmaker to force a vote on ejecting the speaker, known in Congress-speak as a motion to vacate the chair.
“After this vote, we will have discussions about whether there should be a motion to vacate or not,” Rep. Ken Buck, Colorado Republican, said during a CNN appearance.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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