Biden's Debt Deal on the Brink as More Republicans Vow to Vote No

The deal President Joe Biden struck with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the weekend is on the brink of falling apart as a number of Republicans vow to vote no on the legislation. Democrats also aren't happy.

“None of the things in the bill are Democrat priorities.”

—Democrat Rep. Jim Himes pic.twitter.com/WwJUepNhBg
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) May 28, 2023

In recent days, conservative Reps. Chip Roy, Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert, Andrew Clyde, Wesley Hunt and Dan Bishop have expressed their discontent with the bill. Roy has been actively working to tank it.

We are barreling towards unlimited debt in this country….

The government has grown 40% since COVID.

It is time to cut off the Swamp and return to pre-COVID spending #ShrinkWashingtonGrowAmerica pic.twitter.com/hSafValW6m
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) May 30, 2023

I don’t know. In DC trying to figure it out. https://t.co/U72Bjn2s85
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) May 29, 2023

Chip Roy on debt ceiling: “There’s going to be a block of us that are a no,” House Rules Committee member tells @MikeEmanuelFox. “We should kill this. We should move forward. We should pass a short term debt ceiling change…let's do it right, let's not lift the debt $4 trillion.”
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) May 29, 2023

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is often classified as a Republican moderate, is a no.

Let’s dive into the bill:

This “deal” normalizes record high spending started during the pandemic. It sets these historically high spending levels as the baseline for all future spending. The bill then grows govt even more each year at about ~1%.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

Govt grew massively over the past 3 years. This growth was supposed to be emergency funding only during COVID. During this time, govt grew 40% or by $2 trillion from 2019 to 2023. We went from spending just over $4T to spending just over $6T.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

A $1.4b cut to the IRS doesn’t equal $80b in cuts to the IRS. Nor does it mean we are “gutting” the IRS or its 87k new hires.

Allegedly there will be $10b cut off top for 2024 during the approps process. But it’s also not in bill. That money can be cut anywhere the IRS decides.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

Manchin’s carve out for his pipeline is not germane to the bill. This is just your run of the mill govt picking winners and losers in the market and business as usual in Washington. 🙃
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

Fully funds every spending request by the Administration (pretty much).
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

63% of Americans want Congress to cut spending as part of a debt ceiling deal. This bill doesn’t do that.

Unacceptable.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

Washington is, was and always will be lousy at responsibly spending your tax dollars.

That won’t change unless we demand change.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023

Freshman Republican Eli Crane is also a "hard no."

The people of #AZ02 did not send me to DC to be complicit in the managed decline of this country.

We’re nearing $32 trillion in debt. The proposed deal guarantees that we will add at least another $4 trillion by 2025. That’s insanely foolish.

I’m a hard no.
— Rep. Eli Crane (@RepEliCrane) May 30, 2023

Given the tight margin in the House, Biden and McCarthy can only afford to lose eight Republican votes before the legislation fails to pass, unless Democrats make up the gap with yay votes. On Friday Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen put out a new warning, saying the U.S. will run out of cash and default on June 5.