Ahead of House debt ceiling vote Biden shores up Democrats and McCarthy scrambles for GOP support
Ahead of House debt ceiling vote, Biden shores up Democrats and McCarthy scrambles for GOP support
By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and STEPHEN GROVES
May 31, 2023 GMT
1 of 9
Pres. Joe Biden feels good about the budget deal negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the White House and congressional leaders work to ensure passage this week in time to lift the nations borrowing limit and prevent US default. (May 30)
1 of 9
Pres. Joe Biden feels good about the budget deal negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the White House and congressional leaders work to ensure passage this week in time to lift the nations borrowing limit and prevent US default. (May 30)
WASHINGTON (AP) Hard-fought to the end, the
debt ceiling and budget cuts package
is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over fierce blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent.
Biden is sending top White House officials to meet early Wednesday at the Capitol to shore up support ahead of voting.
new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid
and greenlighting a controversial Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose.
For more than two hours late Tuesday as aides wheeled in pizza at the Capitol, McCarthy walked Republicans through the details, fielded questions and encouraged them not to lose sight of the bills budget savings.
The speaker faced a sometimes tough crowd. Leaders of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus spent the day lambasting the compromise as falling well short of
the spending cuts they demand
, and they vowed to try to halt passage by Congress.
This deal fails, fails completely, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said earlier in the day, flanked by others outside the Capitol. We will do everything in our power to stop it.
A much larger conservative faction, the Republican Study Committee, declined to take a position. Even rank-and-file centrist conservatives were not sure, leaving McCarthy desperately hunting for votes.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said after the healthy debate late into the night she was still a no.
Ominously, the conservatives warned of potentially trying to oust McCarthy over the compromise.
Theres going to be a reckoning, said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.
Biden was speaking directly to lawmakers, making more than 100 one-on-one calls, the White House said.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the spending restrictions in the package would reduce deficits by $1.5 trillion over the decade, a top goal for the Republicans trying to curb the debt load.
McCarthy told lawmakers that number was higher if the two-year spending caps were extended, which is no guarantee.
But in a surprise that could further erode Republican support, the GOPs drive to impose
work requirements on older Americans receiving food stamps
ends up boosting spending by $2.1 billion over the time period. Thats because the final deal exempted veterans and homeless people, expanding the food stamp rolls by some 78,000 people monthly, the CBO said.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said it was up to McCarthy to turn out votes from some two-thirds of the Republican majority, a high bar the speaker may not be able to reach. Some 218 votes are needed for passage in the 435-member House.
Still, Jeffries said the Democrats would do their part to avoid failure.
It is my expectation that House Republicans would keep their promise and deliver at least 150 votes as it relates to an agreement that they themselves negotiated, Jeffries said. Democrats will make sure that the country does not default.
Liberal Democrats decried the
new work requirements
for older Americans, those 50-54, in the food aid program. And some Democratic lawmakers were leading an effort to remove the surprise provision for the Mountain Valley Pipeline natural gas project. The energy development is important to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., but many others oppose it as unhelpful in fighting climate change.
The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, said including the pipeline provision was disturbing and profoundly disappointing.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had this warning for McCarthy: He got us here, and its on him to deliver the votes.
Wall Street was taking a wait-and-see approach.
the deal was struck over the weekend
.
The House aims to hold procedural votes Wednesday afternoon with final action expected in the evening. It would then send the bill to the Senate, where Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader McConnell are working for passage by weeks end.
Schumer called the bill a sensible compromise. McConnell said McCarthy deserves our thanks.
Senators, who have remained largely on the sidelines during much of the negotiations between the president and the House speaker, began inserting themselves more forcefully into the debate.
Some senators are insisting on amendments to reshape the package from both the left and right flanks. But making any changes to the package at this stage seemed unlikely with so little time to spare before Mondays deadline.
___
Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Mary Clare Jalonick and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
AP NEWS
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 4:32 am