Debt Deal Meets Resistance

Biden, McCarthy have only days to build congressional support
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2023 5:35 PM CDT
Updated May 29, 2023 12:00 AM CDT
Debt Deal Meets Resistance
President Biden arrives Sunday at the White House from a trip to Delaware to watch their granddaughter Natalie Biden graduate from high school.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Now that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached an agreement on raising the nation's debt limit, they have only a few days to persuade members of Congress to vote for it. That will require assembling a coalition of Democrats and Republicans in both houses, the New York Times reports. Members of the House Freedom Caucus already have said it won't include them, arguing that the deal doesn't impose significant cuts in government spending. McCarthy defended the outline on Sunday, and Biden said he was confident the deal would go through. Reactions:

  • Republican Sen. Rand Paul: "Fake conservatives agree to fake spending cuts," he tweeted, per the AP.
  • Republican Rep. Ralph Norman: "This 'deal' is insanity," he tweeted, adding: "A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to. Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country."
  • Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: "The process was tense, risky and ugly, but in the end, we have a plan to enact savings and lift the debt ceiling, and that is what is needed," said Maya MacGuineas, the nonprofit policy group's president.
  • Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal: "Terrible policy, absolutely terrible policy," she said in reference to work requirements for food stamps and other public benefit programs. Jayapal said she won't decide her vote until she's read the bill.
  • The Business Roundtable: "This agreement takes steps toward putting the US on a more sustainable fiscal trajectory," said Joshua Bolten, the CEO of the group of executives.
  • Democratic Rep. Jim Himes: "I hope that I'm wrong in my pessimistic prognostication that this could be a disaster," he said, per the Washington Post, about the votes in Congress.
(More debt ceiling stories.)

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