WASHINGTON — Republican House leaders were unveiled Wednesday their proposal to raise the debt ceiling for a year in exchange for spending cuts and policy changes, as they seek votes to pass a fiscal blueprint in an effort to force President Biden to the negotiating table.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a speech on the House floor that he will put the bill up for a vote next week. He urged his conference to unite on the move in a bid to speed up discussions with the White House amid growing anxiety about a looming default deadline, given the United States could run out of money to pay its bills within months.
Even if Mr McCarthy can get his own Republican caucus behind the bill, which is by no means guaranteed, it will be dead by the time it arrives in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Mr McCarthy described the effort as a way to get the White House and Democrats involved in spending cuts at a time when the nation's debt has grown to around $31.4 trillion.
“Now that we've introduced a clear plan for responsible debt limit increases,” McCarthy said, Democrats have “no more excuses” not to negotiate.
But Mr. Biden seems in no mood to negotiate. He blasted Mr. McCarthy and the Republican Party in a speech to the Maryland union hall that he gave just as the Republicans were releasing their proposal.
The president accused the speaker and his party of trying to cut spending in a way that would hurt Americans while protecting tax cuts for the country's richest people. Mr. Biden blasted the bill in some of his most belligerent language, saying it would destroy critical programs and harm the most vulnerable.
“That means cutting the number of people administering Social Security and Medicare, which means longer waiting times,” he said. “The cost of childcare is higher, much higher—preschool, college. Higher housing costs, especially for older Americans, people with disabilities, families and children, veterans.”
Understand the Biden Budget Proposal
President Biden proposed a $6.8 trillion budget that seeks to increase spending on military and social programs while reducing future budget deficits.
The law would suspend the debt ceiling – which limits the amount the United States is allowed to borrow – until March 2024 or until the debt grows to $32.9 trillion, setting off another fiscal confrontation just as the 2024 presidential campaign reaches a critical period. In exchange for a temporary suspension of the cap, Republicans are demanding that total federal spending be frozen at last year's levels and that Congress recall unspent pandemic relief funds and impose stricter work requirements on food stamps and Medicaid recipients.
In his speech, Mr. Biden angrily demanded that Mr. McCarthy agree to an increase in the debt limit unconditionally, and insisted that he would not negotiate on spending under the threat of the first default on America's financial obligations.
“They say they are going to default unless I agree to all the crazy ideas they have,” said Mr. Biden, repeatedly referring to Mr. McCarthy and his party as “MAGA Republicans.” He said Mr McCarthy's actions meant that Congress may fail to increase the debt limit in time to prevent default.
“Let's be clear,” said Mr. Biden. “If he fails, the American people will be destroyed.”
House GOP leaders also added steps to the law at the request of the far-right Freedom Caucus to repeal key tenets of Mr. Biden, including a tax credit that incentivizes reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pulling back $80 billion earmarked for the Internal Revenue Service. While conference Republicans say they want to cut spending to reduce the deficit, defunding the IRS will actually reduce government revenue from tax collections, effectively eating up government money, according to congressional scorers.
The bill would also bar the government from enacting a student loan forgiveness plan and includes bills already passed by House Republicans to expand domestic mining and fossil fuel production.
Overall, the plan represents a significant reduction from several of the party's goals outlined earlier this year, including balancing the federal budget within 10 years. But facing mounting external pressure to avert a catastrophic default in early June, Republicans framed the bill as a plausible solution to start negotiations.
McCarthy said Wednesday the legislation would save taxpayers $4.5 trillion, though no independent agency has yet assessed the economic impact of the legislation. An analysis by a nonpartisan congressional record scorer for last year's tax bill found that repealing Mr. Biden is actually going to increase the deficit.
“Whatever goes to the Senate, you can never “negotiate,” said Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a Freedom Caucus member who has never voted to raise the debt ceiling. “You can always negotiate.”
Mr. Biden blasted the Republican Party for trying to protect the wealthy even as they demanded cuts that he said would have the greatest negative effect on low-income Americans.
“MAGA officials are separately pushing for more tax returns and extraordinary benefits for the richest Americans and the largest corporations,” Biden said. “Guys, this time it's the same old dripping MAGA dressing up worse than ever.”
It's unclear whether McCarthy has won a vote to pass the bill. Republicans, plagued by internal divisions, have so far been unable to piece together the conference with a full budget blueprint. And a handful of far-right Republicans, including Representatives Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Eric Burlison of Missouri, balked at the prospect of raising the debt ceiling altogether.
However, some of the most conservative lawmakers at the conference expressed cautious optimism about the plan, pointing out that McCarthy had not – until recently – faced an organized bloc of hard-right opposition to what would be the House Republicans' opening bid.
Russell T. Vought, a former Trump administration budget director who now chairs the far-right Center for Renewing America and has advised Republicans on their debt limit strategy, hailed the proposal as “an important first step to curb our unsustainable federal level. spent with the bureaucracy that was awakened and armed to fight against the American people.
The proposals McCarthy unveiled on Wednesday also appeared tailored to allay concerns raised by Republicans who face tough re-election fights in swing districts as they introduce stronger job requirements for food stamps and Medicaid.
Republican leaders eventually backed down from introducing tougher measures, including one that would substantially narrow the exemptions from work requirements for food stamp recipients. in households with children under 18 years of ageonly releases those whose household includes children under the age of 7 years.
That hasn't stopped Democrats, who are demanding that Republicans vote to raise the debt ceiling without any conditions, from crowing about loopholes in the GOP House conference.
“We are getting closer and closer to when we must act to avoid default,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader. “For all the speeches, for all the letters, for all the wish lists and meetings with these family or those families, the underlying facts have not changed: At this point, Speaker McCarthy has no plans to avoid a catastrophic default on the debt.
Jim Tankerley And Michael D. Slide reporting contribution.