House Republicans pass debt-ceiling hike, hoping to spur Biden to talks
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[April 27, 2023]
By David Morgan and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday
narrowly passed a bill to raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt
ceiling that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade.
The bill isn't expected to pass the Senate, and President Joe Biden
would veto it if it did - but the mostly partisan 217-215 vote
represents a win for Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on an issue
that rattled investors and markets.
Now, McCarthy hopes to lure Biden into negotiations on cutting spending,
even as the White House and congressional Democrats insist on a debt
limit increase with no strings attached.
The U.S. Treasury Department could run out of ways to pay its bills in a
matter of weeks if Congress fails to act, and financial markets are
already flashing warning signs. A 2011 standoff led to a downgrade of
the government's credit rating, which pushed borrowing costs higher and
hammered investments.
"We've done our job," a victorious McCarthy told reporters just after
the vote. "The Republicans have raised the debt limit. You have not.
Neither has Schumer," McCarthy added, referring to Biden and top Senate
Democrat Chuck Schumer.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Apr/27/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
McCarthy bridged deep divides among House Republicans to get the bill
passed. Next is the far more daunting task in trying to broker a
compromise with Democrats without losing the backing of some of his most
conservative fellow Republicans.
McCarthy called on Biden to begin negotiations on a debt limit increase
and spending-cut bill and for the Senate to either approve the House
bill or to pass its own.
The House bill would increase Washington's borrowing authority by $1.5
trillion or until March 31, whichever comes first, raising the specter
of another round of negotiations during the 2024 presidential campaign.
The bill would pare spending to 2022 levels and then cap growth at 1% a
year, repeal some tax incentives for renewable energy and stiffen work
requirements for some antipoverty programs.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Apr/27/images/ads/current/cindyscottage_sda_SHG_2023.png)
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would not sign
off on such cuts.
"President Biden will never force middle class and working families to
bear the burden of tax cuts for the wealthiest, as this bill does," she
said in a statement. "The President has made clear this bill has no
chance of becoming law."
DEMOCRATS SAY BILL 'DOA'
Schumer told reporters the House bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate
and that the Republican measure "only brings us dangerously closer" to
an historic U.S. debt default that would shake markets and economies
worldwide.
Democrats control the Senate with 51 votes.
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![](../images/042723PIX/news_r95.jpg)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
walks following a closed door meeting on Captiol Hill in Washington,
U.S., April 26, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Apr/27/images/ads/current/graue_lda_preowned_042423.jpg)
Earlier in the day, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise predicted in
an interview that passage of the Republican debt limit bill would
change the "entire dynamic" and pressure Democrats to engage in
negotiations.
Republicans were quick to praise McCarthy's victory, which had been
in doubt until the last moment.
"It now demonstrates that we can govern even with a five member
majority, and there's been so much criticism that we couldn't do
this," Representative Michael McCaul said of the debt ceiling vote.
"We've proved to the country that we can govern."
Throughout debate on the bill, Republicans cast Democrats as
free-wheeling spenders of taxpayer money, which they say has pushed
the national debt into a danger zone.
Democrats, meanwhile, bemoaned the deep spending cuts the measure
would bring on programs including healthcare for the poor, Head
Start education for pre-schoolers and an array of other programs
including law enforcement and airport security operations.
The Department of Transportation said Wednesday the bill would shut
down 375 federally-staffed and contract-run air traffic control
towers around the country and result in 7,500 fewer rail safety
inspection days.
Early on Wednesday morning, McCarthy had to give in to some of his
members' demands to keep the legislation alive.
The overnight changes removed a provision that would have ended a
tax credit for biofuels that was part of Biden's climate change
initiatives in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Bending to the far-right wing of the party, Republicans also
accelerated some new, tougher work requirements for receiving
Medicaid healthcare benefits for the poor, angering Democrats.
"Republicans’ massive tax cuts to the rich have cost taxpayers over
$10 trillion over the last two decades and now they want America’s
workers and families to pay the price," said Representative Richard
Neal, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt limit
without conditions, as it did three times under Biden's Republican
predecessor, Donald Trump.
Lawmakers do not know precisely how much time they have left to act.
The "x-date" when the Treasury Department would no longer be able to
pay all its bills could come as early as June or stretch later into
summer.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan in Washington;
Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by
Jonathan Oatis, Matthew Lewis and Grant McCool)
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