House Republicans slam Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal with Biden

Many congressional Republicans have criticized the tentative debt ceiling deal that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached with President Biden – saying they would vote ‘no’ on the measure despite fears of a catastrophic economic collapse.

As McCarthy boasted on Sunday that 95% of his fellow GOP members support the deal — which he promised would lead to historic spending cuts — many conservatives took to Twitter to decry the compromises the California Republican and Biden made as “unacceptable”.

Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina called the deal “insanity,” writing, “A debt ceiling increase of $4,000,000 with virtually no reduction is not what we agreed to. I will not vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better.

Fellow Congressman Bob Good of Virginia also criticized the proposed $4 trillion debt ceiling increase, tweeting, “IF this is true, I don’t need to hear anything else. No one claiming to be conservative could justify a YES vote.

Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado said McCarthy’s tentative deal with Biden on Saturday night ultimately gave up what the GOP was looking for in the negotiations.

“I listened to President McCarthy earlier tonight describe the deal with President Biden and I am appalled at the scrapping of the debt ceiling,” he said. “At the end of the day, the United States will be $35 trillion in debt by January 2025. This is totally unacceptable.”

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert echoed the outrage, agreeing she would join Buck and others in voting “no” on the debt ceiling as it stands.

“Our base didn’t volunteer, knock on doors, and fight so hard to get a majority for this kind of compromise deal with Joe Biden,” she said. declared. “Our voters deserve better than this. We work for them. You can count me as a NO on this matter. We can do better. »

In the Senate, Lindsey Graham, the prominent South Carolina Republican, warned that passing the budget would be a “joke” given his defense spending.

“I want to raise the debt ceiling, it would be irresponsible not to,” Graham told Fox News on Sunday. “I want to control expenses, I would like to have a smaller IRS, I would like to recover unused COVID money.

“And I know you can’t be perfect, but what I won’t do is pass the Biden defense budget and call it a success,” Graham said.

The senator claimed that the real winners of the proposed defense budget would be China and Russia, adding that he would not be “bullied” before the June 5 deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for avoid a national default.

“So Biden’s defense budget was a joke before and if we pass it as Republicans, we’ll be doing Ronald Reagan’s party a huge disservice,” Graham said. “We should raise the debt ceiling, but we shouldn’t cripple the military’s ability to defend the nation in exchange for spending below inflation not fully funding the military.”

Although full details are not yet known, the deal would raise the debt ceiling by two years – extending it beyond the 2024 presidential election – in exchange for cuts in public spending over the next year. same period.

The deal would also end federal spending for 2024 and increase it by 1% for 2025.

Congress is expected to have the full bill to consider by Wednesday.