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McCarthy predicts debt-ceiling deal will pass House with Republican support Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday dismissed vehement opposition among party hardliners to a new agreement with President Joe Biden to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, predicting that most House Republicans would support the deal.
After weeks of tough negotiations McCarthy and Biden reached a tentative agreement this weekend, but now face the challenge of getting a deal through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-led Senate before June 5 to avoid a crippling first-ever default.
The president and House speaker were due to speak on Sunday afternoon to finalize the agreement, which has drawn fire from hardline Republicans and progressive Democrats. House Republicans expected to unveil legislation to pass the deal later on Sunday.
Members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus said they would try to prevent the agreement from passing the House in a vote expected on Wednesday. "We're going to try," Representative Chip Roy, a prominent Freedom Caucus member, said in a Sunday tweet.
But McCarthy dismissed threats of opposition within his own party, saying "over 95%" of House Republicans were "overwhelmingly excited" about the deal.
"This is a good strong bill that a majority of Republicans will vote for," the California Republican told reporters in the U.S. Capitol. "You're going to have Republicans and Democrats be able to move this to the president."
To win the speaker's gavel, McCarthy agreed to enable any single House member to call for a vote to unseat him, potentially making him vulnerable to ouster by disgruntled Republicans. The speaker said he was "not at all" concerned about that possibility.
Republicans control the House by 222-213, while Democrats control the Senate by 51-49. These narrow margins mean that moderates from both sides will have to support the bill, if the compromise loses the support of the far left and far right wings of each party.............
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mccarthys-next-challenge-sell-debt-ceiling-deal-congress-2023-05-28/
