WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Monday that House Republicans will vote on their own debt ceiling bill to allow the US to meet its debt obligations through 2024.
“As the president continues to hide, House Republicans will take action. So here’s our plan: In the coming weeks, the House will vote on a bill to raise the debt ceiling through next year, save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent on China, curb our high inflation, all without touching Social Security and Medicare,” McCarthy said in a speech on the New York Stock Exchange.
McCarthy offered few details, saying the upcoming legislation would reduce federal spending to 2022 levels and cap 1% annual growth for the next decade. He criticized President Joe Biden for refusing to negotiate political terms to extend the debt limit, a position supported by most Democrats.
«Let me be clear. A debt limit increase will not be passed without strings attached,» McCarthy said, adding of the upcoming Republican plan: «Limit, save and grow.»
McCarthy oversees a narrow majority in the House and it won’t be easy for him to find the votes to pass a debt limit increase without bipartisan support. Democrats overwhelmingly support Biden’s position that Congress should pass a simple debt limit bill to avoid an economic collapse and negotiate budget policy separately, without the possibility of default if talks fail.
“Without exaggeration, the US debt is a time bomb that will go off unless we take serious and responsible action. However, how has President Biden reacted to this problem? He hasn’t done anything,” McCarthy said. «The debt limit negotiations are an opportunity to examine our nation’s finances.»
Any bill would need the approval of the Democratic-led Senate before heading to Biden’s desk for his signature. The Treasury Department has set a deadline in early June to raise the debt limit, but other experts believe it could be between July and September.
After McCarthy’s speech, White House spokesman Andrew Bates accused McCarthy of «breaking with the bipartisan norm that he followed» under former President Donald Trump to extend the borrowing limit without «hostage taking.»
McCarthy «once again failed to clearly delineate what House Republicans are proposing and will vote on, even as he referenced a vague and extreme MAGA wish list that will increase costs for working families, remove food assistance and health care to millions of Americans, and yet it would increase the deficit when combined with House Republican proposals for tax breaks skewed toward the super-rich, special interests, and profitable corporations,” Bates said in a statement.
kyle stewart and Alexandra Cod contributed.