House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that Republicans will pass his proposal to raise the debt ceiling this week even amid resistance from some in the GOP that jeopardizes the legislation.
The California Republican said his debt limit plan is about forcing Senate Democrats and President Biden to the negotiating table, suggesting that any GOP lawmakers who vote against it would be rubber-stamping the administration’s “reckless spending.”
“I cannot imagine someone in our conference who would want to go along with Biden’s reckless spending. This is responsible, this is something we have sat down for months and everybody’s had input in,” Mr. McCarthy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.” “It doesn’t solve all our problems, but it gets us on the right path. This gets us to the negotiating table just as [the] government and America expects us to do.”
The proposal would lift the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion through March 2024, cut spending to 2022 levels, cap future budget increases to 1% annually over the next decade, roll back Democrats’ tax-and-climate-spending law known as the Inflation Reduction Act, claw back unspent COVID-19 money and block Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness.
The country is set to default on its debt this summer unless Congress raises the current ceiling of $31.4 trillion.
With the deadline fast approaching, Mr. Biden has refused to engage in spending-cut talks with House Republicans, demanding the limit be raised with no strings attached.
Democrats have grown increasingly anxious about Mr. Biden’s unwillingness to negotiate, worried that talks could come too late and force the U.S. over a fiscal cliff.
“Mark my words: when we look to the future and there is a new housing crisis and there’s a new default, it is his actions,” Mr. McCarthy said. “It’s a socialist belief that you reward bad behavior.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.