Debt ceiling: House GOP unity ‘forced Biden to do his job,’ McConnell says
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) praised House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and GOP negotiators for reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, while also criticizing Democrats and the Biden administration for not coming to the bargaining table sooner.
“House Republicans’ unity forced President Biden to do his job, it’s really just that simple,” McConnell said during a speech on the Senate floor. “Now Congress will vote on legislation that locks in that important progress.”
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The Kentucky Republican’s comments come as some Republicans have openly criticized the deal and are refusing to vote for it. Several members of the House Freedom Caucus are seeking to derail the debt limit deal that was brokered by McCarthy, with some members questioning the Republican leader’s loyalty to the party. Even some members of McConnell’s conference, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), are presenting an alternative plan.
The agreement includes spending cuts demanded by Republicans but not the same reductions in the sweeping legislation passed by the GOP-majority House last month. In exchange for raising the debt limit for two years, a two-year budget deal would impose limits for 2025. It would also expand some work requirements for food stamp recipients and would attempt to streamline an environmental law to build new energy projects.
McConnell attempted to highlight Republican wins in the package, saying that the deal puts “reasonable” caps on federal spending, as did seven of the last 10 debt limit agreements in recent history. He also celebrated an agreement that claws back some money for the IRS and increases some work requirements in federal aid programs, such as food stamps.
“The speaker’s deal secures reductions in discretionary spending. But, this top-line achievement is actually just part of the story,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Republicans also succeeded in clawing back $28 billion in unspent COVID emergency funds, eliminated this year’s budget for hiring new IRS agents, and they expanded work requirements to put more Americans on a more sustainable path out of poverty.”
The Senate Republican leader acknowledged the realities of deal-making in an era of divided government and encouraged Republicans who may be on the fence to support the proposal.
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“Now, divided government means negotiated deals. It means nobody gets everything they want. But, in this case, it means the American people got a whole lot more progress toward fiscal sanity than Washington Democrats wanted to give them,” McConnell said.
A vote on the House floor could come Wednesday, at which point the Senate would take up the measure.