The contentious battle between House GOP and the Biden Administration has come to a close on Wednesday night, with a debt deal passed by a vote of 314-117. The deal raises the debt ceiling, while implementing cuts to spending that the GOP were adamant about during early negotiations.
For months, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sparred in a war of words over how to approach the debt ceiling as a deadline approached. As the June 1st deadline loomed large, Biden called on House GOP to draft a proposal as to their demands to make a deal possible. Talks soured as Biden characterized Republican demands as being unfair and/or harmful to working class Americans, while also being unnecessarily complementary to wealthy oil companies. However, Republicans remained firm in demanding spending caps and restrictions on spending when it came to federal programs. Without a compromise in that regard, the Republican position was that they would not agree to raise the debt ceiling.
As talks stalled, given the fierce rhetoric from both sides, Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries moved to rally house democrats around an action, known as a “discharge petition”, which would force a vote on a “clean debt ceiling deal”. This action would essentially act as an emergency measure if talks devolved to the point of an impassable bridge between Congress and the White House.
House Speaker McCarthy praised the work of House Republicans and the Dems to pass a historic bill. “I knew the debt ceiling was coming. I wanted to make history. I wanted to do something no other Congress has done, that we would literally turn the ship, that for the first time in quite some time we’d spend less than we spent the year before. Tonight, we all make history.”
President Biden also applauded the deal, and commended Speaker McCarthy and his team for negotiating “in good faith”.
Further right conservatives and left of center liberals have both been left with gripes about the deal; with some liberals believing the Biden administration agreed to too many of the demands the House Republican proposal set forth. Meanwhile, some conservative representatives publicly reproached Speaker McCarthy; with some making it clear that they will be calling for McCarthy to be ousted from his seat.
The bill is expected to be passed by the Senate by Friday Night.
