On Wednesday, House Republicans were actually able to come together and pass their opening bid on the debt ceiling, known as the Limit, Save, Grow Act. The bill was approved by 217 Republicans, with just a handful — four — defecting. As late as Wednesday morning, whether Republicans could unite behind a proposal had been in doubt, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy making a series of last-minute concessions to win over holdouts.
The bill will not advance, given Democratic control of the Senate and opposition from the White House. But the measure, for the first time, lays out a Republican position on the debt ceiling, which includes slashing government spending in exchange for a suspension or $1.5 trillion increase. Additionally, the bill would roll back several of the investments in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, including funding for the IRS and clean energy tax credits. And it would make notable policy changes, including adding controversial work requirements for Medicaid and undoing President Joe Biden’s proposal to forgive student loan debt.
Given these provisions, Democrats have already panned the legislation as a nonstarter, and emphasized that they remain committed to a “clean” increase on the debt ceiling, which doesn’t include other cuts as a tradeoff. “[I will] meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended,” Biden said ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “That’s not negotiable.” The Democrat-led Senate is also not expected to take up the legislation, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling the legislation “dead on arrival.”
Despite the bill’s dim prospects of moving forward, House Republicans heralded the vote as a success, largely because it, at least for now, resolves some of the very vocal disputes in Republican ranks and could strengthen their hand in negotiations with the White House. “He either has to negotiate now or we’re the only ones that have raised the debt limit,”…
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