Key GOP negotiator: Debt ceiling leaks won’t help get a deal
by Mychael Schnell - 05/26/23 12:39 PM ET
A key Republican lawmaker negotiating a debt limit increase denounced recent leaks of details of an emerging deal, suggesting they are not helpful in locking down an agreement.
“Everyone wants a detail of this, everyone wants a tweet, I want an agreement that changes the trajectory of the country,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) told reporters Friday morning while walking into Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) office.
“But the tweets, the context, the details and all this stuff, and the leaks, don’t serve getting an agreement that changes the trajectory of the country,” he later added. “That’s what this is about. That’s the fundamental piece of this arrangement that we’re focused on closing out. And if we can close it out, we can meet the deadline and the obligations we have to the American public and to the globe.”
McHenry’s comments came hours after The New York Times and The Washington Post reported negotiators were getting closer to striking a deal that would limit spending more on domestic discretionary spending than defense. They also said negotiators were discussing partially clawing back the $80 billion boost to the IRS for enforcement in an effort to prevent deeper limitations on domestic spending.
Additionally, they said the debt limit hike would last through the 2024 presidential election.
A source familiar with the negotiation, however, told The Hill an agreement has not been reached on top-line spending or how long the debt limit would be increased.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4022422-key-gop-negotiator-debt-ceiling-leaks-wont-help-get-a-deal/
