McCarthy confident he has votes to pass debt ceiling bill, but first must pass rule hurdle

By
Suzanne Downing
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10
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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.

10 COMMENTS

  1. Such a weak man.He has the power and he blew it.Republicans Democrats one party under one house….

    • This was our chance to default and wipe away all the debt once and for all. Instead we are making deals with LGBTQ whatever supporters and spending more money on useless services like free meals for freeloaders. Thanks Biden.

  2. Given the way things have deteriorated in the news business, and particularly in how it reports on government, perhaps a group of reporters should become known as “a scum of reporters”… Seriously. How could they avoid getting some of it on them in that environment?

  3. If the bill has money designated for Ukraine or not allocated to closing the Southern Border, it should be dead on arrival. It also needs clear spending limits and a plan to reduce the size of government, stripping funding from the corrupt FBI & DOJ and abolishing the Department of Education, IRS and DHS. The only way back to a free society is to reduce the size of the beast inhibiting that freedom.

  4. We could try not spending like a drunken sailor… for once.

    I was disappointed that Masse did not fight more. He is usually of the smart ones, so I will reserve judgement. Maybe they will fight on the floor? Because if not now, when?

    Hopefully the Freedom Caucus pushes to replace McCarthy. If not, then we see who they are.

    Paul, Scott and Braun say they are going to stuff the bill with as many amendments as they can in the senate. Again, we will see.

    • It’s like Trump all over again (7.8 trillion)!
      This McCarthy is a real Californian! Where are the real conservatives?

    • Buddy, your pants were around your ankles before you knew it.
      At least Pence will enter the ring and we’ll get some real conservative values back. I sure hope you’re going to support Pence. Or are you just going with the “chosen candidate”?

  7. MAGA loses again, so much losing, y’all must be tired of all that losing. Oh wait that’s been your whole lives. Just another day in the MAGAT life.

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