House Republican leaders are still struggling to get to 218 votes on their package to raise the national debt limit – and are uncertain whether they will be able to hold the vote Wednesday, according to multiple GOP sources.
While Republicans hadn’t yet scheduled the vote, they had made Wednesday their informal goal to lock down the votes and push their package through along party lines. It’s now unclear when the vote will occur.
GOP leaders are warning their members that if they sink the bill, it would give President Joe Biden, who has thus far refused to engage in negotiations over raising the nation’s borrowing limit, the upper hand in the high-stakes fight. Biden issued a veto threat for the legislation on Tuesday.
Republican leaders remain confident they’ll get the votes. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes in the narrowly-divided chamber, and GOP leaders are facing resistance on several fronts within their own ranks.
“We will let you know,” McCarthy said Tuesday when asked if he would be forced to change the bill to win over skeptical Republicans.
Four Iowa House Republicans oppose the bill’s inclusion of a provision repealing ethanol tax breaks, according to several GOP sources. Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson has been lobbied by GOP leaders as they try to secure her vote.
Also narrowing Republicans’ margin are some members such as Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett who say they are “still a no” because of their philosophical opposition to raising the US borrowing limit. And others like swing-district Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and embattled Rep. George Santos of New York have suggested that they might vote against the plan.
Some on the far right such as Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida want to make even stricter the work requirements proposed for Medicaid beneficiaries contained in…
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