Debt Ceiling Bill Faces Tough Path in the House As Opposition Grows

On Tuesday, the debt ceiling bill has to face its major test in the House Rules Committee as GOP opposition increases. 

What is the Complete News?

The bill that House Republicans released on Sunday to raise the debt ceiling faced its major test in the House, as two of the panel’s nine Republicans will oppose bringing it to the House for a vote. 

US President Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy capped the federal baseline in exchange for Republicans’ votes to raise the debt ceiling. Before 5 June, the bill needs to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and GOP. 

It would be the time when the Treasury Department is unlikely to have enough money to meet its debt obligations. However, around 20 conservative Republicans have publicly attacked the bill. 

Moreover, several Democrats criticized the bill. 

Defended the Compromise Bill

Bharat Ramamurti, National Economic Council Deputy Director, made a statement that it is a sign of reasonable compromise. If there are some who are a little bit unhappy, we still have a good deal here. 

He added that this deal’s macroeconomic impact would be minimal, and it is as good as Biden could have hoped. On Tuesday, a formal statement was also released by the Office of Management, saying the bill reflects a bipartisan compromise to avoid default. 

House Voting Schedule

According to the tentative House voting schedule, a vote on the Fiscal Responsibility Act would occur around 8:00 pm ET. But before voting begins, the bill has to be approved by a majority of the 13-member House Rules Committee. 

The meeting of the committee is set to happen at 3 pm ET. Every possible detail of the debt ceiling vote would be discussed in the meeting. House Republican Chip Roy said we would fight in the Rules Committee, and if we didn’t win the House, we would regroup. 

Roy’s statement was an implicit threat to unseat McCarthy as House Speaker. On Tuesday morning, Republican Ralph Norman tweeted that there were no accurate cuts, fuzzy math, and workarounds…..

Workarounds, fuzzy math, and no real cuts… this #DebtCeiling “deal” is weak everywhere it needed to be strong. #NoDeal https://t.co/rz4QF3m7Lu

— Rep. Ralph Norman (@RepRalphNorman) May 30, 2023

Recently, Norman tweeted that the deal is insanity, it would increase with no cuts that is not what we agreed for.

This “deal” is insanity.

A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to.

Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better.

— Rep. Ralph Norman (@RepRalphNorman) May 28, 2023

However, Thomas Massie had yet to announce whether he would support the bill or not.