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.
Rep. Greg Pence
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 weekslong 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.
For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.
