The debt ceiling deal agreed to by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is unlikely to face smooth sailing through Congress as a couple of Republicans have reportedly said they would oppose the bill. The high opposition to the deal raises worries as the government is expected to run out of funding options by June 5, according to the Treasury Department.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said the deal did not do enough to change the fiscal trajectory. Our country is on the verge of bankruptcy, and after this debt ceiling deal, it will continue to be careening towards bankruptcy. The deal greenlights $4 trillion in new debt over the next year and a half, locks in inflated levels of spending from COVID, and keeps 98% of the Biden IRS expansion, he wrote on Twitter.
An important first test is set on Tuesday, when the House Rules Committee takes up the bill as part of a necessary step before a vote in the full House, Reuters said. The panel is typically closely aligned with House leadership, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was forced to include some skeptical conservatives in lieu of winning the speaker's position, the report said.
One of those conservatives, Rep. Chip Roy, said on Tuesday he did not support the bill. It s not a good deal. Some $4 trillion in debt, for a two-year spending freeze and no serious substantive policy reforms, Roy wrote on Twitter.
Representative Ralph Norman, also speaking on condition of anonymity, has also spoken against the deal. We agreed to a four-ton debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts, but I don't think that is what we agreed to. The American people deserve better, he said.
Republican Mike Lee, who was against the deal, also came out against the deal, the report said.
Despite the opposition, McCarthy said he was not worried about the deal's prospects in the committee. The House Speaker has predicted he will receive support from most of his fellow Republicans, who control the House. Jeffries said he expects support from his left side, though many on his left side may vote against it.