GOP conservatives fume over debt ceiling compromises
Hard-line conservatives are fuming over the debt deal compromise being negotiated between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the White House — and they're warning about collapsing GOP support.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said he was “concerned about rumors” he was hearing about a deal that would raise the debt ceiling higher than what House Republicans proposed without getting more concessions in return.
He offered a stark prediction of the consequences.
“If that were true, that would absolutely collapse the Republican majority for this debt ceiling increase,” Good said, adding the rumors he has heard mean the deal would be “less than desirable, I believe, to the majority of Republicans.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said on the House floor Thursday that Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) showed him a list of what debt limit negotiators could be working on in a deal. Burchett declined to say where the list came from, but Norman said that it included lifting the debt limit by up to $4 trillion — significantly higher than the $1.5 trillion figure that Republicans paired with around $4.8 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years in a bill they passed in April.
Norman was not happy.
“It’s idiotic to accept anything less,” than the House GOP bill, Norman said. “From what I’ve seen, watering it down is just not the answer.”
“He doesn’t have the 218 [majority] unless he gets Democrats,” Norman said. “If he gets Democrats, that’s a telltale sign.”
The party’s right flank had lined up behind the GOP debt limit bill in April, with McCarthy winning support from some members who had never before voted for a debt limit increase. But while most Republicans saw that bill as a starting point for negotiations with Biden and expected compromise, many now insist that the GOP “hold the line” behind the bill and resist significant compromise.
As negotiators signal they are inching closer to a deal, some Republicans are starting to get more direct with their criticism of leadership.
“There's no reason for us to be here having discussions or negotiations,” Good said, calling on the Senate to take up the House GOP bill.
McCarthy noted on Thursday that any compromise will not please everyone.
“I don't think everybody is going to be happy at the end of the day,” McCarthy told reporters. “That's not how this system works.”
And Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), one of McCarthy’s deputies in negotiations with the White House, brushed off worries from conservatives based on the rumors.
“I would love to know the contours of the deal that everybody knows,” McHenry told reporters when asked Thursday about discontent among conservatives. “Everybody's trying to do a fine job of figuring out the finer details of this. But nothing's done, and we’re in a sensitive phase with sensitive issues that remain.”
Those in the right flank do not expect measures to block President Biden’s student loan forgiveness or to rescind a major boost to IRS funds — both of which were in the House GOP debt limit bill — to be in a debt limit compromise.
“What I'm hearing is that they punted student loans. What I'm hearing is that they're not engaging and making the changes necessary to the Inflation Reduction Act, which has basically got a $1.2 trillion price tag. What I'm hearing is that they're not talking about getting rid of the IRS,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said.
And Roy is underwhelmed with what he thinks might be in it.
“What I'm hearing is you got work requirements and some spending cuts,” he said. “You want to come sell that to me while also increasing the debt ceiling by another 4 trillion? … That certainly doesn't get me excited.”
Thirty-five members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and their allies wrote a letter to McCarthy Thursday expressing their displeasure with where they see a deal going and suggesting that McCarthy add more demands like border security measures to debt talks — something the Speaker has previously rejected.
That letter could represent a baseline number of members who will not vote for a compromise deal.
The prevailing wisdom among Republicans is that McCarthy will have to win support of the overwhelming majority of Republicans in order to keep the support of his conference.
The fact that any member has the ability to call a “motion to vacate the chair” to force a vote on removing McCarthy hangs over the Speaker's head — though right-wingers repeatedly insist they are not talking about using that option.
McCarthy’s problems in securing a compromise may not stop in the House.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) threatened Thursday morning to use procedural moves to slow down passage of any debt bill in the Senate if it does not have “substantial” spending cuts.
“I will use every procedural tool at my disposal to impede a debt-ceiling deal that doesn’t contain substantial spending and budgetary reforms. I fear things are moving in that direction. If they do, that proposal will not face smooth sailing in the Senate,” Lee tweeted.
Mike Lillis contributed.