US debt ceiling deal angers Republicans: ‘Another financial cliff’

Following a delay in the US default (the original date of June 1 was changed to June 5) and long negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, the House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the national debt ceiling. However, there is still a whole bureaucratic procedure for the approval of the bill by the Senate, where any legislator can theoretically slow down a quick vote on the proposed initiative. Despite the preliminary positive outcome, Democrats and Republicans were still dissatisfied with many points of the bill. The scapegoat was House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

In the best tradition of American militants, the US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling just a few days before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen predicted a default date. In total, 314 congressmen voted in favor of the bill, 117 against. The initiative received a greater response from the Democrats (165 people supported, 46 did not), but the Republicans were more restrained (for – 149, against – 71).

The deal was concluded until January 1, 2025. However, it is too early to talk about the end of the debate, given the (probably purely formal) bureaucratic procedure. The bill must secure the support of the Senate before it can be submitted to President Joe Biden for signature. Here, any legislator has the right to delay the desired rapid passage of the initiative, so it remains a mystery for now when the final vote will take place. As CNN notes, the deadline for passing the bill is extremely tight, and there is practically no room for error, which puts enormous pressure on the leadership of both parties.

The term for suspending the debt limit removes the threat of default until the presidential election in 2024. In addition to limiting debt, the bill limits non-defense spending, expands work requirements for some food stamp recipients, and returns some of the COVID-19 damage relief funds.

Despite US officials pushing Biden and McCarthy toward consensus, the debt-limit bill faced backlash from the far right and the far left. As part of his negotiations with Biden, McCarthy successfully pushed for cuts in government spending and changes to the operating requirements for the Supplemental Food Assistance Program.

However, the concessions that McCarthy won were not successful with members of the so-called “Freedom Caucus” (the far right of the Republican Party), who pressed for sharper spending cuts and stricter requirements for the operation of preferential programs. Representatives of the “freedom faction” called the compromise reached by Biden and McCarthy a paltry attempt to cope with the national debt, which is more than $ 31 trillion.

Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Scott Perry tweeted, “President Biden is happy to send Americans to another financial cliff… The real cause of the debt crisis, spending, needs to be addressed.”

Amazingly, it turned out that McCarthy had to enlist the support of the Democrats, and not his own party members. Members of the Freedom Caucus made a last-ditch effort Wednesday afternoon to block progress on the debt ceiling initiative. Ultimately, 52 Democrats voted in favor of the proposal, effectively securing the passage of the bill, although they were not without scathing remarks after that.

House Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries mocked McCarthy’s failure to unite his party, arguing that the procedural vote proved the Speaker had “lost control of the floor”: “This is an extraordinary act that points precisely to the nature of extremism spiraling out of control.”

In general, dozens of progressive lawmakers, writes The Guardian, opposed the bill, criticizing the spending cuts and new requirements for the operation of preferential programs introduced by McCarthy.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal said, “Republicans have never cared about cutting deficits, only pushing through their anti-worker family policy priorities under the threat of a catastrophic default. The deal they made tonight proves it, and I couldn’t be part of their extortion scheme.”

Progressives in the Senate, including Senator Bernie Sanders, echoed the criticism and indicated they plan to oppose the debt ceiling proposal, but it looks like the bill will still become law. The fact is that Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised to act quickly to pass the bill as soon as it is approved by the House of Representatives. On the other hand, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, now Republican, also said he planned to support the proposal: “Any unnecessary delay, any last-minute brinkmanship would be an unacceptable risk.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will cut the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. If the bill is passed, it is claimed, “mandatory spending will be reduced by $10 billion in total and net revenue will be reduced by $2 billion over the period 2023 to 2033.” But there’s also a worrying sign—changes to food stamp job requirements “will increase federal spending by about $2.1 billion” over the same ten-year period.