“Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his negotiators praised the debt ceiling deal as “transformational.” He thinks it will alter the country’s trajectory.
His two negotiators, Reps. Garret Graves (R-LA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said it would pass. The House Freedom Caucus is very displeased, but the bill will likely pass.
The Deal’s Great?
“We did a conference call with our conference, and over 95% were overwhelmingly excited about what they see,” McCarthy told reporters Sunday morning.
You can read the reaction of the Freedom Caucus on this link.
Two other Freedom Caucus members, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said they don’t like the deal with Norman, calling it “insanity.”
Speaker McCarthy said he’s not worried about having to vacate the speakership. He says that while the bill isn’t something everyone wanted, this is the best result, given the divided nature of the government.
Maybe any deal is a win?
“I think (the bill) is good for the American public,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to have Republicans and Democrats be able to move this to the president. The president agrees with this bill as well.”
According to The Washington Examiner’s report, the deal includes significant Republican wins, including the clawing back of nearly $29 billion in unspent COVID relief funds, adding work requirements to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program up to age 54, clawing back the $1.9 billion appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service for the 87,000 new agents, implement a temporary 99% continuing resolution cap until all 12 appropriations bills are passed, and would restart student loan payments in 60-days.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy defends offering a higher debt ceiling in exchange for increased govt spending: “We let government grow, but at a slower rate” pic.twitter.com/ZErpivTNhY
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 28, 2023
McCarthy says we were able to cut spending “All the way lower than ’22 levels” Why not pre-COVID levels – 2022 was extraordinarily high?
The Swamp Deal’s a Disaster
This is what the House Freedom Caucus thinks is in the bill. It’s different from what Speaker McCarthy reported.
Hold the line.
No swamp deals. #ShrinkWashingtonGrowAmerica pic.twitter.com/VPBPeq5z0i
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) May 27, 2023
This means that during the next recession in 2023-2024 if tax revenue declines and spending increases, they can borrow an unlimited amount of money for the spending spree to re-inflate the economy.
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) May 28, 2023
According to Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), the new agreement has no full elimination of 87,000 IRS agents, no elimination of the IRA green energy subsidies, No elimination of the student loan redistribution program, no spending freeze at FY2022 levels.
➡️NO full elimination of 87,000 IRS agents
➡️NO elimination of the IRA green energy subsidies
➡️NO elimination of the student loan redistribution program
➡️NO spending freeze at FY2022 levels— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) May 28, 2023
The media likes it – uh, oh:
Here is how we know that Speaker Kevin McCarthy lost huge and Joe Biden won.
None of the legacy corporate left wing media are attacking the debt “ceiling” deal. Lots of nice little stories about it. Zero scary headlines. pic.twitter.com/jbg7wG4Sav
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) May 28, 2023
Pedro Gonzalez claims Kevin McCarthy, Biden, and Democrats secured $80 billion in new funding for years to help the IRS go after more Americans with more IRS agents.
He blames Donald Trump for supporting McCarthy, but the alternative was to let the Republicans pick another speaker, and it would have been a RINO worse than he is. Unfortunately, we have a lot of Republicans who agree with much of what Democrats want. All is not as easy as it seems.
Rep. Ken Buck tweeted. “I listened to Speaker McCarthy earlier tonight outline the deal with President Biden and I am appalled by the debt ceiling surrender. The bottom line is that the U.S. will have $35 trillion of debt in January, 2025. That is completely unacceptable.”
Gunther Eagleman writes that “the debt ceiling will remain uncapped until Jan 1, 2025.” If true, that is unlimited spending for a year and a half.
The truth is in the details, and we can’t see them. It’s the 11th hour of a holiday weekend.
This is how Congress “legislates.” Strike a private deal on the Saturday night of a Holiday Weekend, and then inform “legislators” they must approve the pre-arranged deal in a matter of hours or the world economy crashes pic.twitter.com/zLK9TqQTub
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 28, 2023
This is what we expect with a long known leftist spender like McCarthy. This deal seems to have been carefully designed to get enough people from both parties to support it. There will be politicking involved to see which members vote for it, but they will make sure there are enough votes. A disaster for McCarthy would be if he cannot get half his members to support it. Democrats will do lots of complaining though they know they got a big win.
Presidents always win the debt ceiling negotiations. They know a majority of congress will not allow the USA to default on their watch, as they fear the economic collapse that would follow. Every time this issue comes down to a last-minute deal, Congressional leadership puts lipstick on the pig and declares victory. They achieve a token win in order to save face. I’ve never put any faith in the debt ceiling negotiations because the congress has very little actual leverage.