Debt ceiling deal faces first hurdle in Republican-led House

Two of the committee’s nine GOP members — Reps. Ralph Norman (SC) and Chip Roy (Tex.) — belong to the Freedom Caucus and have come out against the deal. The Freedom Caucus is expected to hold a news conference at noon Tuesday. But so far, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian-minded conservative who sometimes sides with the Freedom Caucus, seems to support the deal. His vote would give Republicans enough support to adopt the rule, since the four Democrats on the committee aren’t expected to offer their support at this procedural step.

The deal struck by Biden and McCarthy would raise the debt ceiling for two years — beyond the 2024 elections — allowing the government to pay its bills. In a concession to Republicans, the bill would limit domestic spending for two years and impose some new work requirements for certain individuals receiving food stamps and those in the Temporary Aid for Needy Families program.

The bill would fast-track a new natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia, a key goal of Republicans and a plan championed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (DW. Va.). It also would pay back roughly $20 billion of the $80 billion approved last year for an expansion of the IRS, another concession to Republicans.

The bill would allow an increase in spending on defense, similar to what Biden requested in his budget on March 9, as well as veterans’ affairs.

House lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill after an eventful holiday weekend in Washington. For days, debt ceiling negotiators from the GOP and the White House clashed, and then compromised, until the eventual release of the 99-page bill Sunday evening. By that point, Republican and Democratic leaders were already in the thick of whipping support from their rank-and-file, holding conference calls and circulating talking points to tout their respective wins.

For the White House, the deal did not give into Republican demands for steep cuts on domestic spending, and raised the debt ceiling beyond the 2024 election. Republicans, meanwhile, are celebrating an agreement that claws back some money for the IRS and increases some work requirements in federal aid programs, such as food stamps.

Asked whether he was confident that the debt ceiling deal would pass Congress, Biden on Monday replied, “I feel very good about it.” He said he had spoken with a number of lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has expressed his crucial support.

The day before, on “Fox News Sunday,” McCarthy predicted that he would have all the necessary GOP votes and said the far-right members of his conference would not move to vacate him as speaker. He downplayed criticism from some House Republicans that he failed to lock in enough spending cuts.

“Well, that’s okay, because more than 95 percent of all those in the conference were very excited,” McCarthy said on the program.

As they worked the phones, party leadership urged their colleagues to move fast enough to assure passage by June 5. That’s the point at which the US government will run out of money to make all of its payments, according to the latest estimates from the Treasury Department.

To avoid a disastrous default, McCarthy would need the support of a “majority of the majority,” or at least half of the 222 Republicans in the House, even to bring the bill to the floor. He could lose up to 111 of his own party members, but then would need up to 107 Democratic votes.

A vote on the House floor could come on Wednesday, at which point the Senate would take up the measure. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN. Y.) has warned of a weekend vote to get the legislation passed in time.