During a press conference on Tuesday, the House Freedom Caucus gathered to address their concerns about a recent deal. Representative Chip Roy from Texas expressed his strong opposition, stating no Republican should support the deal. He criticized the agreement, stating that it would require an additional borrowing of $4 trillion without any substantial benefits. Roy warned that there would be consequences if the bill proceeded.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, reached a deal with President Biden on Saturday night. According to the DC Enquirer, McCarthy claimed the agreement included significant spending cuts for the IRS, which would be the largest in the nation’s history.
However, the bill did not meet the expectations set by the House Speaker, leading many Republicans to oppose it. Despite McCarthy’s claim that 95 percent of Republicans in Congress supported the bill, Republican lawmakers have come out in droves against the bill because of its lopsided nature.
Representative Matt Rosendale from Montana criticized the deal on Twitter. Rosendale highlighted various negative aspects of the agreement, such as the failure to eliminate the 87,000 IRS agents added by the Biden administration and the lack of curtailment of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.
With a projected US default on Monday, McCarthy was under pressure to convince several GOP members to support the debt ceiling deal. Three conservative members of the House Rules Committee, Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, and Thomas Massie, have expressed reservations about the bill.
However, in a close vote, the House Rules Committee made a decisive move by approving the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act, despite mounting opposition within the Republican Party. This significant step brings the country closer to raising the debt ceiling just six days before a potential default on loans.
With a vote of 7-6, the 13-member panel narrowly advanced the bill, with only Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-NC) siding with Democrats in opposing the measure. The committee, which is predominantly composed of nine Republicans, successfully pushed the legislation forward. The next stage for the bill is a vote on the House floor, scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
McCarthy’s strategy will focus on arguing that no other bill can achieve the same level of savings for the federal government and that Biden never intended to negotiate in the first place.
The Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, criticized the debt deal, calling it “totally inadequate” during an interview with Fox and Friends. He expressed concern about the massive increase in spending and its impact on the country’s financial stability.
In the Senate, Democratic communications directors were briefed on the messaging strategy by the White House. The briefing aimed to counter progressive ire by emphasizing that not everyone would get what they want and highlighting the White House’s success in blocking dangerous GOP provisions from being included in the legislation. The Senate awaits the bill’s transmission from the House following the Wednesday vote, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may need to allow amendment votes to expedite the bill’s passage.
Amidst the uncertainty, the Treasury market remains relatively stable, although the T-bill curve shows some signs of unease as the deadline approaches.