U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) claims that the new debt limit deal between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) and President Joe Biden is “bad news.”
The deal, struck by Speaker McCarthy and President Biden on Saturday, which house leaders are formally referring to as the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, aims to reduce domestic spending to levels seen in the fiscal year 2022 while capping growth in top-line federal spending at 1 percent over the ensuing six years.
The deal would also raise the debt limit by about $1.5 trillion until after the next presidential election, recover tens of billions of dollars in unspent COVID-19 stimulus funding, reduce funding for the hiring of additional Internal Revenue Service Agents (IRS), cut $400 million from the Centers for Disease Control’s Global Health Fund, require student loan borrowers to begin repaying their student loan debts and impose a work requirement for some able-bodied food stamp and welfare recipients.
Speaker McCarthy touted that the deal is “worthy of the American people” while President Biden said that the debt limit deal “means not everyone gets what they want.”
“It is an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone. And, the agreement protects my and Congressional Democrats’ key priorities and legislative accomplishments,” President Biden said.
However, according to Sen. Vance, he is unsure that Republicans actually got anything that they wanted as part of this deal.
“The more I learn about this debt ceiling deal, the more I think it’s bad news. Deficit reduction isn’t even my most important issue – In private conversations I’ve had with Dems they’ve acknowledged their openness to permitting reforms. I frankly care more about that issue than any particular spending cut – We didn’t get permitting reform. We didn’t get border security. It’s not entirely clear we got anything,” Sen. Vance said.
Sen. Vance is one of numerous outspoken Republican lawmakers who say that this deal with President Biden is totally unacceptable.
According to U.S. Representative Ken Buck (R-CO-04), this deal is a major win for the Democrats, and called this “deal” a Republican surrender.
“I am appalled by the debt ceiling surrender. The bottom line is that the U.S. will have $35 trillion of debt in January 2025. That is completely unacceptable,” Rep. Buck said.
U.S. Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) said that “No one claiming to be a conservative could justify a YES vote” on the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
U.S. Representative Dan Bishop (R-NC-08) called the deal “so bad.”
“Heard the call. RINOs (Republicans in name only) congratulating McCarthy for getting almost zippo in exchange for a $4T debt ceiling hike was enough to make you vomit,” Rep. Bishop said.
U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03) vowed to vote against the deal.
“Our base didn’t volunteer, door knock, and fight so hard to get us the majority for this kind of compromise deal with Joe Biden. Our voters deserve better than this. We work for them. You can count me as a NO on this deal. We can do better,” Rep. Boebert said.
According to Speaker McCarthy, he expects a vote to be held on the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House on Wednesday. Both the House and Senate would need to pass the legislation to avoid a U.S. default.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “J.D. Vance” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “U.S. Capitol” by noelle.
