(RightWing.org) – To keep the mammoth machine of the United States government running, the country must issue debt in the form of bonds, treasury bills, and borrowing from other countries. There is a limit to how much it can borrow, and it is set by law. As the deadline looms to the point where the Treasury Department will no longer be able to borrow and potentially be unable to pay what it owes, President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) engaged in a series of negotiations and public posturing, and finally reached “an agreement in principle,” which passed in the house with a final tally of 314-117. It must now be approved by the Senate before heading to Biden’s desk.
Cutting the Deal
The Democrats, of course, were quite vocal in telling the world that any cuts to their projects that redefined “infrastructure” so that billions of dollars could be spent on their Woke Agenda would never be acceptable. The Republican negotiators were equally adamant that without some trimming of the fat from the Left’s pork, they would not let the debt limit (sometimes called ceiling) be raised or suspended just so that more money could be thrown into its feeding trough.
However, McCarthy saw some pushback from certain rank-and-file members of his party, such as Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN), who opposed the deal and voted against it. He spoke with CNN’s Jim Acosta about the matter before the vote. When asked if he would turn down a direct appeal from the speaker, he confirmed that he would, saying it was just like he “did the last time,” a reference to a similar problem under former President Donald Trump.
Then there is Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX), who posted an infographic on his Twitter feed expressing what he sees as the unacceptable differences between the “Limit, Save, Grow Act” that House Republicans had passed earlier and what he called the “GOP ‘Deal’ with the Swamp.” Among the things he highlighted that were given up includes allowing the IRS to keep most of the $80 billion allotted to hire 87,000 new agents that will “be used to expand woke, weaponized bureaucracy.”
Another betrayal, at least from Roy’s point of view, is preserving “every cent of Democrats’ massive [$1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act] crony energy giveaway to their rich… donor class & Chi-Coms.” The congressman also has said this deal was a betrayal of the agreement that McCarthy made with the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) that got him the speaker’s gavel and said this could lead to a reconsideration of that support. Roy also voted against the measure.
On the other side of the capitol building, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted out his vow to “use all the powers available to him in the Senate… to undo this catastrophe for defense.” He also expressed his “total disgust” for the idea of weakening America’s defenders “at a time of great peril.”
McCarthy isn’t the only one facing backlash from members of his own party. The far-Left wing of the Biden brigade also showed signs of balking at the deal — but for vastly different reasons. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), bemoaned any concessions made in regard to work requirements for welfare programs and the “impacts for environmental justice.” She maintained her position and voted no on the measure.
All in all, 46 Democrats and 71 Republicans voted against the proposal, but it wasn’t enough. Now to see if the Senate vote has the same drama.
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