Rep. Greg Pence
Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, voted in favor of a proposal that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions.
The proposal, which narrowly passed the House in a mostly party-line 217-215 vote, has been characterized as a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer, The Associated Press reported.
In exchange for raising the debt limit by $1.5 trillion into 2024, the proposal would roll back overall federal spending and claw back unspent COVID-19 funds, impose tougher work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other government aid and halt President Joe Biden’s plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans, according to wire reports.
It would also end many of the landmark renewable energy tax breaks Biden signed into law last year and tack on a sweeping Republican bill to boost oil, gas and coal production.
A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis estimated the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law.
Biden has threatened to veto the Republican package, which has almost no chance of passing the Democratic Senate anyway, and the president has so far refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling which the White House insists must be lifted with no strings to ensure America pays its bills, according to wire reports.
Passage of the sprawling 320-page package in the House is only the start of what is expected to become a weeks-long political slog as the president and Congress try to work out a compromise that would allow the nation’s debt, now at $31 trillion, to be lifted to allow further borrowing and stave off a fiscal crisis.
Currently, the Treasury Department is taking “extraordinary measures” to pay the bills, but funding is expected to run out this summer, according to wire reports. Economists warn that even the serious threat of a federal debt default would send shockwaves through the economy.
Pence, for his part, said in a tweet last week that “it is time to limit reckless government spending” in reference to the proposal. The third-term congressman from Columbus also appeared on the Fox Business show “Mornings with Maria” last week to discuss McCarthy’s debt ceiling plan.
“I was a ‘no’ until I sat down with Kevin (McCarthy) and talked to him about that,” Pence said during his appearance on Fox Business. “I’m very supportive of his efforts. He has worked very, very hard to move this ball forward and bring people to the table.”
“I’m in agreement that this offer should bring everybody to the table, and we should talk more about this,” Pence added later in the interview. “…Let’s talk about, as adults, about real solutions to these long-term problems. This is a great start. This is an opportunity for everybody to come to the table and present what their ideas and solutions are.”
The debt limit is a roughly century-old artificial cap that Congress placed on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow, according to wire reports. Lawmakers have raised or suspended it dozens of times since 1960, including three times during the Trump administration.
Raising the debt limit does not authorize new spending but rather allows the federal government to pay its bills. Because the government spends more than it takes in through taxes and other revenue, it has to borrow money to pay its obligations.
In recent years, the borrowing limit has been the subject of deepening partisan standoffs, with lawmakers from both parties using debt ceiling votes as leverage for other priorities.
Wednesday’s vote was the first time that Pence has voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling during the Biden administration.
However, Pence was one of 65 House Republicans who voted to suspend the debt limit in 2019 when President Donald Trump was in the White House, congressional records show.
Data from the Treasury Department shows that U.S. national debt rose by $7.8 trillion during the Trump administration and has increased so far by $3.7 trillion during the Biden administration.
