Freedom Caucus Considers Retaliation Against McCarthy As Debt Limitation Deal Nears House Passage

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday was poised to push back against opposition from conservative insurgents and progressive Democrats to pass a deal with President Biden that would allow the government to exceed the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

California Republican McCarthy secured the support of 52 House Democrats in a test ballot to pass the bill. The bill is expected to pass late Wednesday night, and the bill will go to the Senate, where senators will end Monday’s deadline by which the U.S. government will be unable to pay all its obligations unless the bill is passed. By then, they were busy building a consensus in order to hasten the final passage. Extension of credit line.

Both Mr. McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have expressed confidence that they have enough votes to overcome secession from the left and right.

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“I intend to support the legislation under consideration today, and I have made it clear that I will do so without hesitation, without hesitation, without fear,” Jeffries of the New York Democrat said in a statement. “Avoid defaults.”

The hard-line House Liberal Party has made a concerted effort to derail the bill, labeling it a “watered-down betrayal” of conservative principles.

Members of the Freedom Caucus have also threatened a coup against Mr McCarthy because of the deal.

“A two-year spending freeze at most, full of loopholes and gimmicks that will increase funding of federal bureaucrats to achieve a $4 trillion increase in debt.” [limit]Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy said.

Conservative hardliners aren’t the only ones who oppose the deal. Some moderate Republicans also say the bill is a far cry from the debt limit that House Republicans passed last month.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican who switched parties after being disillusioned with the Democrats’ left-leaning stance, said he “wouldn’t be able to vote in good conscience because he simply failed to meet the expectations we set.” Told.

On the left, members of the parliamentary progressive delegation are fiercely opposed to the deal.

“I think Republicans need to own this vote. This was their deal, their deal,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the New York Democratic Party. “They are trying to break in and cut.” [food stamps]. They’re trying to get in and cut environmental protection. They are going to attack communities that don’t want oil pipelines. ”

The deal would raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until after the 2024 presidential election. It would also recoup billions of dollars in unused pandemic relief and reduce IRS funding by more than $20 billion over two years.

With Republicans calling for at least $130 billion in immediate cuts, Mr. Biden secured victory by keeping domestic spending flat next year. Both sides reached a bipartisan agreement to increase defense spending by more than $26 billion.

Republicans won by getting Mr. Biden to agree to cap federal spending growth next year at 1%.

“This House Republican win will cancel the $28 billion unobligated COVID-19 fund. Cut over $2 trillion in government spending. Rep. Reschenthaler said. “And it also rejected the extreme $5 trillion tax increase proposed by the president.”

The agreement further expands labor requirements for food stamp and direct cash recipients through 2030. Healthy, childless beneficiaries under the age of 54 in each program must work at least 20 hours a week to maintain benefits.

Under the agreement, food stamp recipients without children will have new restrictions on how long they can receive benefits. The deal exempts veterans and homeless from work requirements while expanding food stamp benefits.

While the new restrictions will save taxpayers money, expanding benefits for veterans and the homeless will actually increase overall spending on food stamps. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the change will cost taxpayers an additional $2.1 billion over the next decade.

“We watered down the work requirements that the CBO said would actually add $2 billion to the snap cost,” Roy said.

Despite these realities, progressive Democrats say the new labor requirements remain too burdensome for workers.

“Although this agreement exempts [food stamp] While it will expand labor requirements for some vulnerable communities, it will expand labor requirements for others,” said Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat who opposed the deal. “It is policy violence to pit our most vulnerable communities against each other. There should be no trade-offs when it comes to keeping people fed.

The deal also includes a pay-as-you-go clause that requires Mr. Biden to offset rules and regulations that increase federal spending, apart from increasing labor requirements.

McCarthy hails the bill’s inclusion as a victory, but Republican critics say the law also allows the White House to waive this inclusion if needed for greater efficiency. points out. The bill also stipulates that OMB’s waiver cannot be challenged by the courts.

“OMB directors have sole authority to waive expenditures when they are ‘necessary for the delivery of the programme’. So that one line wipes out PAYGO,” said South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. “These words on paper mean nothing when read in fine print.”

House Republicans initially called for a $130 billion cut in non-defense spending this year and a 10-year spending cap. They also wanted to end Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and undo the more than $200 billion green energy tax credit Democrats passed last year.

Mr. McCarthy has already made it clear that the debt-restriction deal is just a precursor to a battle over budget cuts as Congress begins deliberations on this fall’s government funding bill.

“I’m not giving up on the American people. It’s not over,” said McCarthy, a California Republican. “This doesn’t solve all problems. This is the first step.”

But the promise of a bigger fight is problematic. Within the debt limit, McCarthy and Biden included a provision guaranteeing a 1% cut in spending across the government if Congress doesn’t adopt a funding bill by Jan. 1, 2024.

A government fundraising war isn’t the only immediate threat to McCarthy’s leadership. Conservative hardliners within the Freedom Caucus are considering sacking him over the debt-limitation deal.

This year, the Freedom Caucus nearly jeopardized Mr. McCarthy’s speakership. Instead of allowing McCarthy to take office, the group pushed for a package of rules that would decentralize Congressional leadership.

The new rules include a provision that gives a single member the power to force a vote on the removal of the chairman, known in parliamentary parliamentary terms as a motion to remove the chairman.

Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Back said during an appearance on CNN, “After this vote, we’re going to debate whether or not we should move to withdraw.”