(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A small but growing number of Republicans are coming out against what they’ve criticized as an “unlimited debt ceiling increase” brokered between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Biden-McCarthy “Fiscal Responsibility Act” would reportedly increase the debt ceiling by at least $4 trillion and wouldn’t require Congress to revisit the issue until 2025, after the next Presidential election. House Republicans passed a bill last month that would have increased the debt ceiling by approximately $1.5 trillion, but that legislation floundered—with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calling it “dead on arrival.”
Economists have warned that the new bill would likely need approval from the House and Senate by June 5, when the Treasury Department says it will run out of money to pay its debt obligations.
McCarthy has touted his bill as a win for fiscal responsibility, but a growing number of Republicans are saying “no deal” to the legislation.
The House Freedom Caucus held a press conference Tuesday to explain why members oppose what they called an “unlimited debt ceiling increase.”
“No one sent us here to borrow an additional $4 trillion and get nothing in return,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
Calling the impending debate over the Fiscal Responsibility Act a “career-defining vote for every Republican,” Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., explained how the legislation would increase each American’s share of the national debt by at least some $32,000.
“Do you know what $1 trillion is? It’s about $8,000 for every man woman and child in the United States,” he said.
Bishop had even harsher words for McCarthy after the press conference. When a reporter asked him whether he thinks McCarthy is lying about the supposed fiscal benefits of his deal, Bishop responded in the affirmative.
“Yes, he’s lying,” he said, adding that he has lost confidence in the House Speaker.
“What basis is there for confidence?”
Some relatively moderate Republicans have joined Freedom Caucus members in opposing the Biden-McCarthy deal, including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas.
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, have also voiced opposition.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act was still being debated in the House Rules Committee at the publication of this article. At least two members of that committee signaled their opposition to the bill, but it looked set to make it out of that panel.
The House is scheduled to vote on the bill around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
