McCarthy set to unveil legislation raising debt ceiling until next year
Cami Mondeaux
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is reportedly set to unveil legislation on Wednesday seeking to raise the debt ceiling, hoping to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote sometime next week.
McCarthy is set to release the legislation on Wednesday after days of deliberations with other House Republicans as part of the speaker’s latest efforts to restart negotiations with the White House on how to address the debt ceiling crisis. The bill would raise the debt ceiling either by $1.5 trillion or until March 25, 2024, whichever comes first, according to CNN.
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The rest of the details of the legislation are not clear. The full language of the bill is expected to be released sometime Wednesday.
The proposal comes as McCarthy’s office has been working for weeks to craft legislation that could garner enough support in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. McCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes in order to pass the bill and give him a framework to bring to the negotiating table with President Joe Biden.
The debt ceiling proposal has proved to be McCarthy’s toughest leadership test yet as the California Republican seeks to appease the demands of all corners of his party. It’s not clear what provisions will be included, but sources told CNN that it may include a partial repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act and green energy tax credits.
McCarthy unveiled the plan to GOP lawmakers during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, which was met with mixed reactions from GOP members. However, the speaker expressed confidence it can pass, acknowledging to members the plan is not complete but will act as a catalyst to kick-start discussions with Biden.
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McCarthy met with Biden in January to begin negotiations on the debt ceiling, but that meeting ended without a binding agreement because the White House maintains it will not discuss federal spending until the borrowing limit is lifted. McCarthy said on Monday he has not spoken with Biden since that initial meeting, accusing the president of “bumbling into the first default in our nation’s history.”
However, the White House declined to continue negotiations until Republicans release their budget proposal for the next fiscal year — a talking point that has been repeatedly used by Democrats in recent weeks.