WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has unveiled a sweeping package that would raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion into next year in exchange for $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.
McCarthy announced Wednesday that House Republicans were introducing their legislation to warn of a looming fiscal crisis if Congress fails to take action to raise the debt ceiling, now at $31 trillion, to keep paying the nation’s bills.
President Joe Biden, who has refused to negotiate in order to pay the nation’s debts, has said McCarthy’s bill is a no-go.
The White House responded, stating, “Speaker McCarthy sided with the extreme MAGA wing of his conference … House Republicans are holding the American economy hostage in order to take a hatchet to programs Americans rely on every day to make ends meet.”
The White House also said it would slash funding for education, veterans, health care and food assistance.
Aside from budget cuts, the 320-page “Limit, Save, Grow Act” proposes pulling back federal spending to 2022 levels, capping new spending at one percent a year, clawing back unspent COVID-19 relief money and raising the age limits for food stamp work requirement.
It also proposes some policy changes that members of the far-right Freedom Caucus are calling for, repealing some tax credits in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
McCarthy is now imploring Biden to restart talks.
“President Biden has a choice: Come to the table and stop playing partisan political games, or cover his ears, refuse to negotiate and risk bumbling his way into the first default in our nation’s history,” McCarthy said.
Just as McCarthy released his plan, Biden was taking the stage in Maryland about his economic plan where he used previous comments from former Presidents Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan against McCarthy and House Republicans.
Both Trump and Reagan had warned against using debt ceiling brinkmanship as a negotiating tactic.
“No one should do anything to jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States of America. Take default off the table and let’s have a real serious, detailed conversation about how to grow the economy, lower costs and reduce the deficit,” Biden said.
A vote in the House is expected next week. It faces challenges, Democrats in the House and Senate are almost certain to be opposed.
Lauren Wright, Ph.D., a Princeton University associate research scholar and lecturer, said the bottom line is that Republicans don’t have the institutional power, or votes, to ram through their preferences right now.
“The Democrats have the upper hand,” Wright said.
But some of those far-right members of the party are already expressing support. Representatives Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Mike Braun (R-IN) have all stated that this is a “courageous first step,” expressing support.
Meanwhile, Rep. George Santos’ team has said he will vote no on this.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.