Over the weekend, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accomplished the unthinkable — he made a deal with President Biden to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt.
This deal matters not only because McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) compromised with his party's number one enemy, but also because the speaker forced Biden to negotiate even though the president had said for weeks that he wouldn't. For a moment, this high-stakes parley thrust the duo into the spotlight, showing voters that lawmakers can effectively cross the aisle to serve the public.
But after the holiday weekend, hyperpartisanship snuck its way back into the national conversation, with many within the GOP vowing to block the deal.
If they follow through on their threat and the U.S. defaults, the whole world could face economic hardship.
The bill cleared the House Rules Committee, a key hurdle, on Tuesday night, and a vote on passage is likely as early as Wednesday evening.
Will GOP defectors be able to kill Biden and McCarthy's compromise? Will the U.S. Senate back the White House and send the bill to Biden's desk?
Hello, my name is Erin B. Logan. I cover national politics for the L.A. Times. Today, we are going to discuss political compromise, Congress and the nation's debt.
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What Republicans gained
America will default on its debts if Congress does not raise the federal government's borrowing limit by June 5, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned last week. A default would have huge ramifications: a recession would likely follow and millions would lose work.
That is why White House and McCarthy's negotiators came to a compromise over the weekend, and publicized the 99-page bill Sunday evening so lawmakers could review it.
In the deal, McCarthy agreed to suspend the debt ceiling for two years, enabling the federal government to borrow above its existing $31.4-trillion in debt and ensuring Biden will not have to face this headache again in his first term as president.
The text also indicates that Republicans achieved modest victories.
In exchange for the two-year suspension, the White House agreed to gradually shave off $20 billion of an $80-billion funding infusion into the Internal Revenue Service and repurpose it as non-defense spending.
The IRS funding was part of the Democrat-led Inflation Reduction Act, which passed last year. Democrats had hoped to modernize the service and enable agents to more aggressively collect taxes from wealthy individuals and companies. (The GOP previously criticized the investment, claiming, without proof, it would lead to an uptick in auditing of the middle class.)
The deal also blocks Biden from unilaterally extending the student loan payment pause beyond the end of August.
These achievements, however, are not enough to buy support from hard-right GOP lawmakers, many of whom say these gains are too modest to rightly call a victory.
They contend McCarthy did not negotiate substantial cuts to spending and, by extension, failed to meaningfully reduce the nation's overall debt. Instead, they say, the speaker merely reallocated funding.
Some have gone as far as to suggest that McCarthy should be removed from leadership for inking the deal.
Far-right House lawmakers revolt
The House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday made clear that it will not back this bipartisan deal.
Their opposition is notable because Republicans can lose only a handful of votes since they narrowly control the lower chamber.
The legislation "fails completely" to substantially cut the federal deficit, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, the chair of the Freedom Congress, said during a news conference Tuesday.
GOP Texas Rep. Chip Roy claimed the deal is "effectively a spending freeze."
"That's not exactly ratcheting down our spending," Roy said. He added: "We're not making the substantive, transformative changes necessary."
Roy said earlier that he would try to kill the bill in committee because it is a "betrayal of the power sharing arrangement that we put in place." He also threatened to "regroup and figure out the whole leadership arrangement again" if he and his allies did kill the bill ahead of the floor vote.
McCarthy told reporters he is "confident" the House will pass the bill.
"No one gets everything that they want," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
"That's how divided government works," she added. "But the president successfully protected core democratic priorities."
Will the bill pass?
Though these far-right Republicans have vowed to oppose the bill, it could still pass with Democratic support.
Some House Democrats have criticized the new work requirements for certain adults on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated this provision, which includes new carve outs for veterans and the homeless, would actually increase spending, although the overall deal will decrease the nation's deficit.)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Tuesday that he expects House Republicans to deliver enough votes to pass the bill but said his party is "committed to making sure we do our part in avoiding default."
Senate Democratic and GOP leaders said they would back the legislation and urged their party to send it to Biden's desk ahead of the default deadline.
The latest from politics around the world
—Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a third term as Turkey's president Sunday, weathering the greatest political challenge of his career and defeating Kemal Kilicdaroglu and the opposition coalition that had tried to oust him in a rancorous runoff election that saw voter turnout of more than 80%, Times writer Nabih Bulos reported.
—Texas' GOP-led House of Representatives impeached state Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton on Saturday on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust — a sudden, historic rebuke of a fellow star Republican, the Associated Press reported. The vote triggers his immediate suspension from office and empowers Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint someone else to the role.
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The view from Washington
—Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who "dared all and gave all" fighting for their country and called on Americans to ensure that their "sacrifice was not in vain" as he marked Memorial Day with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the Associated Press reported.
—As U.S. public health officials brace for a possible resurgence of mpox ahead of the summer festival season, experts are warning that European and North American governments aren't doing nearly enough to ensure that hard-hit African countries can also beat back the virus, Times writer Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu reported.
The view from California
—Even before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made her first appearance at the California Democratic Party convention this weekend, she was an inescapable presence, dangling in cartoon form off the shoulders of the party's politicians and most dedicated activists, Times writer Melanie Mason reported.
—Since she took office, Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe initiative has moved more than 1,200 homeless people off the street in Venice, North Hollywood, Del Rey, Beverly Grove and about a dozen other L.A. neighborhoods, Times writer David Zahniser reported. In many cases, encampment residents went into the same motel or group of motels, leaving an area free of tents.
—On the largest stage to date in the race to replace retiring California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the three top Democratic candidates dashed through their state party's convention this weekend in downtown Los Angeles, courting delegates, meeting with potential backers and trying to build early support in the unpredictable contest, Times writers Seema Mehta and Laura J. Nelson reported.
—Across California, where Democratic lawmakers have crafted some of the nation's strongest abortion rights laws, antiabortion pregnancy centers appear to be untouchable despite repeated attempts to rein them in, Times writer Mackenzie Mays reported. The centers, primarily faith-based nonprofits, have managed to evade legislative attempts at stricter regulation, which the Supreme Court ruled violated the 1st Amendment.
Times writer Noah Bierman contributed to this report.
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