House Republicans had passed a partisan debt ceiling bill through the lower chamber last month, which included roughly $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction and rescinded a number of Biden-era programs, including green-energy tax credits, student-loan subsidies, and $80 billion in IRS funding.
But GOP negotiators dropped most of those provisions during the course of the talks in order to secure the new spending caps. And even before the deal was announced, the Freedom Caucus was blasting the proposal for giving away too much to Biden.
The conservatives are pointing to one major point of contention: The debt ceiling hike in their legislation was capped at $1.5 trillion, while the deal McCarthy cut with Biden was expected to be nearly three times that figure.
“Unacceptable,” the Freedom Caucus tweeted.
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) took the criticisms a long step further, saying a debt ceiling increase of that size would prompt “war” between conservatives and leadership.
“If [the] Speaker’s negotiators bring back in substance a clean debt limit increase … one so large that it even protects Biden from the issue in the presidential …, it’s war,” Bishop tweeted.
Despite the conservative criticisms, Republicans clearly won the debate in one important sense: Unlike debt ceiling fights in the past — when GOP leaders demanded spending cuts but conceded tax hikes to Democrats in return — McCarthy drew a red line on new revenues early in the process, focusing the deficit reduction effort squarely on only the spending side of the budget equation in what amounts to a major victory for Republicans.
The absence of tax hikes as part of the deal has infuriated Democrats, who are lamenting the lopsided nature of the talks. But it could provide McCarthy some cover as he faces a barrage of criticism from his far-right skeptics.
“I’m not fearful of what’s in this bill,” he said.
more
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4023783-debt-ceiling-deal-reached/
