House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced on Monday that House lawmakers would vote on legislation to raise the debt ceiling for one year and cap spending increases for federal agencies.
The debt ceiling, which prevents the government from spending beyond a predetermined debt limit of $31.4 trillion, was crossed earlier this year. To keep the government funded until early June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was forced to utilize “extraordinary measures,” after which the government would default on its obligations if lawmakers fail to suspend or raise the debt limit. Speaking before the New York Stock Exchange, McCarthy said that House Republicans would submit a bill to lift the debt ceiling for next year in the coming weeks. The measure would reduce spending to fiscal year 2022 levels and restrict annual spending growth to 1% for the next decade.
“These are not draconian limits, they’re the same spending levels we operated under just last October,” McCarthy told Wall Street executives. “But the bloated, overgrown bureaucracy that has expanded under President Biden needs to be pruned, and that’s exactly what we’ll do. If Washington wants to spend more, it will have to come together to find savings elsewhere, just like every household in America does.” McCarthy also criticized President Biden for failing to negotiate spending cuts in recent weeks, stating that the longer the President waits, the greater the risk of the country defaulting on its debts. McCarthy further claimed that “a no-strings-attached debt limit increase cannot pass.”
Federal spending plans offered by McCarthy align with the framework set forth by members of the conservative Republican faction known as the House Freedom Caucus. These lawmakers conditioned their support for a debt ceiling vote on adherence to their specific framework. They previously enforced several concessions from McCarthy, such as passing budgets that prohibited the debt limit from increasing and only voting on single-subject bills before they cast affirmative votes as he sought control of the gavel.
