The members of the own party of President Donald Trump could complicate his efforts to avoid an impasse on the extension of the country’s loan limit – which means a complication for Trump’s legislative projects as a whole, while managing Large promises and small republican majorities in the congress.
A dozen republican senators and 49 Republicans of the House of Representatives – more than 20 % of each conference – have never voted before for a law increasing the debt ceiling, according to an analysis of the votes by nominal appeal and data of the Congressional Research Service.
While many republican legislators have argued the increase in the debt ceiling as part of the messages on messages Who were doomed to failure, this group suggests that a large number of republicans could hesitate more to support increases that could really take effect.
This means that raising the debt ceiling, a necessity for Trump, may not be as simple as simply packing an increase with “a large and beautiful bill” that Trump wants to use as the main vehicle of his program second term, since it is unlikely that it attracts a lot of democratic support.
These internal divisions within the GOP seem to have motivated certain discussions on the attachment of an increase in the ceiling of the debt to help in the event of a disaster in California following recent devastating forest fires, rather than on a program wider in the GOP. The president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News on Sunday to set an increase in the debt ceiling to Californian aid was “one of the things that We are talking about ”.
In recent years, the Republicans have used the debt ceiling as a negotiation tool to put pressure in favor of broader discounts. The debt ceiling fixes the amount beyond which the Treasury Department can no longer borrow money to pay the country’s bills, and not extend it could lead to a lack of national payment.
Trump is no stranger to the opposition of his own party in negotiations on the debt ceiling, and he does not want to rehash the question on his return to the White House. The Congress voted the suspension of the debt ceiling three times during the first term of Trump in the context of broader expense bills, and the three measures aroused significant opposition from the Republican Party.
Seeking to avoid a new dead end on this issue before taking office, Trump made an unfortunate effort last month so that the Republicans extend the limit of debt as part of a government finance plan at the end of the year. He also called for the total abolition of the debt ceiling, but some supporters of the deficit do not agree.
“Do not eliminate it. This is the only lever we have, “said senator Ron Johnson, a republican of Wisconsin, who also said that he would be open to negotiating the debt ceiling if it was associated with discounts wider expenses.
Johnson is one of the legislators who have never voted for a law increasing the debt ceiling.
“No,” replied another of these Republicans, the Chip Roy representative of Texas, when asked during a brief interview with the Capitol if he was willing to abolish the debt ceiling.
“If we look at the debt ceiling, there should be discounts. It’s as simple as that, ”said Roy. “You should not borrow more money without putting order in your finances. »»
Roy noted that he and his colleagues from the House Freedom Caucus Conservative recently published a proposal saying that they could support an increase in the debt limit over two years if the leaders of the Congress undertook to “save a dollar for a Dollar over 10 years ”.
“When I heard the president speak, his agreement is as follows: ‘Let’s move the agenda.’ This is a bit where I am, “the representative Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, former president of Freedom Caucus told journalists on Wednesday. “But I don’t want to leave us with an even more serious national debt problem than the one we currently know. So I would like us to reduce our expenses.
Biggs noted that he and the representative Tim Buchett, R-Tenn., Are the only members of the GOP conference to have never supported any measure to raise the debt ceiling, not even a messaging bill who had no chance of becoming law.
Biggs was also one of the 38 Republicans of the House of Representatives who voted in December against a government funding measure supported by Trump who would have extended the limit of debt until January 30, 2027, a sign that Trump still collides with An opposition within his own party on this question.
These internal divisions persist while legislators seek a way to follow in terms of debt ceiling, Biggs recognizing that some Republicans would probably oppose the increase in the debt ceiling or the suspension of a help program In the event of a disaster for California.
“If the leaders decide to associate it with the financing of disasters, it is because they are comfortable with democratic votes,” said Biggs.
“If they really want to try to reduce the arc of expenses, then they will include the package of reconciliation,” added Biggs, referring to the tool that republicans seek to use to advance the main legislative priorities of Trump, which would bypass a procedural obstacle in the Senate and allow the measure to be adopted with the only republican votes.
Even if some Republicans are reluctant to Trump’s proposal to abolish the debt ceiling, some legislators who have not supported the past increases in the debt ceiling could be opened there.
Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO., Told NBC News in a recent interview that he had not supported the past increases on the debt ceiling because these measures included expenses to which he had opposed. Hawley said the abolition of the debt ceiling was “an interesting idea in good circumstances”, noting that Trump had raised the issue at a meeting with the Republican senators at the beginning of the month.
“I think this is often used as a political football ball,” said Hawley. “I’m not sure I saw her accomplish much.”
