Speaker Kevin McCarthy is working to unify House Republicans around a slate of proposals to slash spending and balance the budget for when he enters negotiations with President Biden about raising the debt limit.

To that end, Mr. McCarthy on Tuesday outlined four broad requirements that need to be met before GOP lawmakers will vote to hike the cap on how much the government can borrow to meet its expenses.

“I have no interest in brinkmanship – only in doing what is best for the American people,” Mr. McCarthy wrote in a letter to Mr. Biden urging the start of debt limit talks.

The White House dismissed the offer.

“If they want to have a conversation about our nation’s economic and fiscal future, it’s time for them to put out a budget – as the president has done with his detailed plan to grow the economy, lower costs, and reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

What’s more, Mr. Biden has ruled out any cuts and insisted on a “clean” debt ceiling hike.

SEE ALSO: Kevin McCarthy outlines broad goals for debt limit talks with Biden

Mr. Biden’s firm stance promises to push the negotiation ever closer to the deadline to increase the debt limit expected in mid-August when the Treasure runs out of “extraordinary measures” to keep paying all of the bills.

Mr. McCarthy warned the president that he was “on the clock.”

The problem for Mr. McCarthy is that no less than three factions of House Republicans are seeking to make their imprint on the budget with competing sets of spending cuts. One of the cuts they all agree upon, however, is recouping the $90.5 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief.

Of the three factions, the 40-member ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus has been the most outspoken. 

In exchange for raising the debt ceiling, the group wants $131 billion in immediate spending cuts. The Freedom Caucus has not specified what exactly should be cut, but they say defense should be excluded and “woke initiatives” prioritized. 

They said the federal government is a target-rich environment for cuts.

“How much does it cost the American taxpayer to fund the censorship of its people,” said Rep. Dan Bishop, North Carolina Republican. “It’s at the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, at the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, it’s across the entire federal government. That’s what we want to cut.”

Earlier this year, the group forced Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, to decentralize the legislative process within the House in exchange for their support of his ascension to the speakership. They now want to wield a similar influence over Mr. McCarthy in the spending fight.

However, every group and every member of the House GOP Conference has leverage. Mr. McCarthy can only lose five Republican votes on any bill without having to rely on Democratic votes. 

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said the spending fight is all about Republicans keeping their campaign promises to voters. 

“It is time for this country to actually have leadership in this town that wants to do what we actually said we would do, to come forward with a plan to cut spending, reduce the deficit and save $3 trillion over the next decade,” he said 

Apart from slashing spending by $130 billion, the Freedom Caucus is also demanding Congress claw back federal funding for several top White House initiatives. That includes the more than $400 billion set to go to Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness, $90.5 billion in unspent COVID-19 aid, and $80 billion more for the IRS over the next decade. 

Some of those goals overlap with the budget proposal being formulated by the Republican Study Committee. The 170-member group is the largest faction within the House GOP and has a history of setting policy for the conference. 

While the Republican Study Committee has yet to reveal its budget framework, the group is expected to endorse clawing back unspent coronavirus money, as well as funding for Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness program. It also favors rescinding non-transportation spending approved by Mr. Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law. 

Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern said his group was focused on structural changes that would keep spending in line with tax revenue. Topping the list is overhauling the federal pension system and capping the annual growth of non-defense spending. 

“Spending reforms are necessary, otherwise we’ll be back in this same situation before we know it,” said Mr. Hern, Oklahoma Republican.

Such changes might be too ambitious for moderate House Republicans, some of whom represent suburban districts carried by Mr. Biden in 2020.

“No one wants to put their neck on the line for a budget or spending bill that isn’t going anywhere in the Democratic-run Senate,” said a centrist Republican who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter. “We’re the majority-makers. If we can’t vote for it, then neither should the Republican House.”

Most of the moderate and centrist Republicans are coy about their budget proposal but say they want to help craft legislation that has the possibility of becoming law.

Others signal what is acceptable to them. 

Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, has proposed tying any future growth in non-defense spending to inflation. 

Rep. Dusty Johnson is backing legislation to expand work requirements for federal welfare programs, like food stamps. 

“We know that work is the only path out of poverty,” said Mr. Johnson, a South Dakota Republican who chairs the Main Street Caucus, a conservative group focused on pragmatic policies relating to the economy, business, environment and national security.

Other moderates are backing efforts to claw back the unspent COVID-19 money, and some suggest the federal government should return to the pre-pandemic levels of non-defense spending.

The divisions are vexing top Republicans on the House Budget and Appropriations committees as they seek to craft a spending blueprint. The document was set to serve as a rebuttal to Mr. Biden’s $6.8 trillion budget proposal while laying out the GOP’s priorities.

With the delayed release of GOP’s budget, Republicans running the Budget Committee have pivoted to producing a broad “term sheet” of spending and structural changes they want Mr. Biden to agree to before raising the debt limit.

• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.