The deal aimed at raising the national debt ceiling by trillions of dollars has made progress by advancing through the House Rules Committee.
The bill barely passed by a 7-6 vote, with two Republicans crossing party lines to join Democrats in opposing the bill: Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina. The two said the bill doesn’t have enough spending cuts.
Conservative Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted in favor of moving the bill to the House for a full vote Wednesday evening. Massie usually votes with Roy and Norman.
The Democrats have vowed to block a procedural vote on a rule rule governing the debt ceiling increase final vote. McCarthy can lose only five Republicans and still pass the rule if Democrats try to block passage. Republicans need 218 of their members to vote for the rule to advance to the final vote.
“In regards to the rule, it’s very simple: The majority is responsible for passing the rule,” Democrat Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, told a scrum of reporters. Clark is the Democratic whip.
The bill helps the federal government avoid default by raising the amount of money it can borrow. The debt limit would be increased for two years. It puts limits on discretionary spending that Congress does each year. It also puts sideboards on the president’s ability to spend without congressional approval, and it claws back unspent Covid-19 funds that was appropriated but is unspent. There is also a small amount of welfare reform and some minor loosening of federal permitting requirements that slow the economy down.
