Dem Demographics of the U.S. Treasury Department: The Case for a Bipartisan Decreasing of the Treasury Debt Ceiling

The Treasury Department is projected to hit its borrowing limit next year, though it is unclear exactly when the agency will run out of so-called extraordinary measures to ensure payments continue for a few months.

Congress can either raise or suspend the debt limit. Failing to do so would mean an unprecedented and potentially catastrophic default on U.S. debt.

Goldman Sachs economists said in an analysis this week that bipartisan support to raise the debt limit would be necessary, but hard to achieve, and that the United States had come a long way from the economic tumult of 2011. The analysts also noted that less than a quarter of Republicans and less than a third of Democrats who will serve in the House in 2023 were there in 2011.

“If I were going to continue here, I would hope they would do it now,” said Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, one of several Republicans retiring at the end of the year, in an interview. “We all know that on Feb. 1, the 2024 presidential races start, so you’re automatically already in the political season before you do anything next year, and I would hate for one side or the other to take the debt ceiling and to use it for the purposes purely being political.”

Chuck Schumer said at a news conference last month that the debt ceiling was done in a bipartisan way. “I’d like to see it done in a bipartisan way and get it done before the end of the year.”

Republicans are “wrong” if they want to cut a year-end spending deal with Democrats, McCarthy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham, saying they should instead punt the issue until 2023 when Republicans take control of the House.

The dilemma for McCarthy is balancing the House Republicans’ desire to use their leverage on the debt ceiling to act on priorities that would otherwise be ignored by the White House and the Senate and also finding a deal with Democrats without being seen as caving into their demands. The ability of one lawmaker to call for a vote on McCarthy’s removal from the speakership.

In order to avoid voter backlash, McCarthy and his House GOP allies are steering clear of Medicare and Social Security.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune said the conference in the House can be a different place than the Senate.

McCarthy said he was looking forward to working with the president on how to find savings for the American people. We have watched what the spending has done and we saw the challenge of it happening. We want to change the course.

The opening of the new Congress on Tuesday without a clear-cut leader could cause a fight on the floor that could possibly delay committees, oversight or legislating. McCarthy supporters are bracing for the worst, as the conference is about to gather one last time before the speaker vote.

“Everybody’s probably got a reason at the moment to oppose it,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican and top GOP appropriator, said of McCarthy. “They may oppose it on philosophical grounds, maybe opposes it on political grounds.”

“We’re on defense,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters. The cards we were dealt are being dealt with. He said that they were able to increase funding for defense programs and not allow Democrats to raise money for other domestic programs.

There has been a scramble for the speakership which has taken the form of strategy sessions with close allies on and off Capitol Hill, intense negotiations over rules changes, and even pro-McCarthy phone calls. His team is hopeful that things will fall into place after they released a final rules package late Sunday evening, which formalized the concessions that he has agreed to, and are betting the opposition will fold on the floor.

Even as McCarthy signals his staunch opposition to the massive spending package, some of his critics are complaining about how the process is playing out.

The leader of the far-right House Freedom Caucus warned that McConnell was preparing to roll the House on trillions of dollars in spending. Tell me what happens here. I’m interested to hear, but right now, I don’t see anything changing.”

Republican sources believe House GOP leadership will whip against the omnibus bill in order to defeat the one-week short-term spending patch. McConnell is likely to vote for both packages.

The House Appropriations Committee’s Victory of the Mid-term Budget and the Implications for Non-defense, Domestic Spending

McCarthy, who was once avuncular and smooth-talking, has adopted some of the defiance of the Make America Great Again movement, seeming to seek out soundbites as badges of honor.

“Bicameral tension has been a feature of our Constitutional republic,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican. “Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are gonna be just fine.”

An agreement had been reached for a framework that will allow Congress to complete a full-year government funding package.

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said that he and his Republican counterpart, as well as the chairperson of the House’s appropriations committee, have come to a bipartisan agreement that will allow them to finish the omnibus appropriations bill.

The announcement did not provide specific details of what the agreement encompassed, but it was a major breakthrough in the battle to fund the government before year’s end.

Congress is on track to pass a week-long extension to avert a shutdown on Friday, but a broader funding deal had been challenging amid a dispute between the two parties over how much money should be spent on non-defense, domestic priorities. Shelby had previously told reporters the two sides were roughly $26 billion apart.

Democrats have passed recent domestic spending bills which Republicans argue are wasteful and have led to inflation.

Democrats counter by saying those measures were necessary to help the country recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic as well as to tackle other critical priorities. And Democrats say that money to respond to Covid, health care and climate should not mean there should be less money next year for government operations and non-defense, domestic spending.

Dick Durbin warned that the government funding fight was moving toward next year. “That would just invite more negotiating obstruction,” said Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. “This fiscal year began October 1. It is necessary for this job to be done before Christmas.

“There’s a lot of work left to do, but we’re optimistic that if we preserve the good faith we’ve seen so far, we will get there. I remain hopeful because despite disagreements about the ultimate package, there’s little disagreement that an omnibus is by far the best solution for funding the government,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. He talked about how the bill likely will include additional aid for the Ukraine.

But Leahy told CNN earlier Tuesday that Democrats will not agree to a stopgap bill until the beginning of the new Congress if the two sides can’t reach an agreement on a year-long package.

If a bigger bipartisan deal comes together, it would pass both chambers. It is likely that a deal will get the votes in the House, but it will take some republicans breaking with McCarthy to get there. House Democrats will only have a two seat margin, and because negotiators would have to craft any deal in order to win 10 GOP votes in the Senate, it’s likely the bill won’t pass muster with some progressives in the House looking for more domestic spending.

Schumer said that negotiations on a year-long government funding bill were moving forward and that he was hopeful that they would reach a deal.

A group of Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates are pushing hard to restore at least part of the enhanced child tax credit that stabilized many families’ finances in 2021.

Reply to Comments on ‘Cosmological Taxes” and ‘The Role of Expiring Tax Policy”

Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden is going to fight with all his strength over the issue, he said on Tuesday.

The number one interest of companies is for trained and educated workers. You can give employers more of what they want by making investments like the Child Tax Credit. So the two of them – the Child Tax Credit, the Research and Development Credit – I support both, very, very strongly,” he said.

A tax package in an omnibus deal could be in order, but there is a requirement for bipartisan support and there is a lot of expiring tax policy that needs to be extended. As of right now, I don’t think so.

For any party in American history, the GOP House majority in January would mean a fragile governing mandate. And the ideological struggle being waged by pro-Donald Trump extremists inside the party would have made even a more comfortable majority volatile.

What Should the New GOP Speaker (McClarke) McCarthy Do? The Case Against Feasibility: The Importance of the Framework Agreement

What should McCarthy do? Mr. McCarthy has made several concessions to try to win over the hard-liners, embracing measures that would weaken the speakership and that he had previously refused to support. The concessions have not helped him corral the votes.

It also showed how much personal power she has after she lined up to support McCarthy for speaker. After coming to Congress as a fringe figure, and quickly losing her committee assignments over her past retweets of violent rhetoric against Democrats, Greene now promises to be one of the most prominent faces of the new GOP majority. A lot of what she says is offensive and insurrectionist to many people without fear of being reprimanded by her party leader. And it also shows that while Trump’s power may be waning elsewhere after a lackluster launch of his 2024 campaign, his influence over his followers in the House, like Greene, remains strong.

It’s important that the government be funded for a full year, since it’s possible that a fiscal crisis could befall the country, since the bipartisan framework agreement for which was announced Tuesday night is so critical.

McCarthy has made public promises about how he would rule over the House, such as threatening to launch an impeachment inquiry into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and vowing to not take up bills from any GOP senators who backed the massive year-end spending package – both top priorities of the right.

McCarthy laughed off the questions about her latest comments, saying that she thought she was being facetious. His attitude was not a surprise; it was consistent with his attempts to rewrite the history of the worst attack on US democracy in modern times, for which he briefly said Trump bore responsibility.

McCarthy declined to criticize the ex-president for meeting with a white supremacist, but did not criticize the rapper who recently made antisemitic remarks. After meeting Biden and other congressional leaders at the White House, the House Republican leader made up a story that Trump had condemned Fuentes four times but hadn’t done so before.

Immediately after the midterm elections, a group of hardliners began discussing putting up a protest challenger to McCarthy during the internal House GOP leadership elections in hopes of forcing him to the negotiating table. They settled on a republican, Andy Biggs of Arizona.

“Right now, the emotions are high,” he said. “We’re running up against a holiday, trying to deal with this issue of funding the government and there are different opinions about how best to do that. I get that. But in the end, I think it’ll get done and I think it will set the stage for next year and it seems to be at least in the House next year, that would be an advantage for them. They will start with a clean slate.”

“We’re enduring the silly season of a campaign. For most of us, that’s over after you get elected. He said that the silliness was still evident because he is running for speaker of the House.

The concession that McCarthy made to the Republicans, that he would support a minimum of five Republicans in order to force a vote to remove the speaker, was first reported by CNN.

In a letter to his colleague, he made his case for the speakership and promised to improve the representation of the ideological groups on committees.

Not long after Sunday’s call, a group of nine hardliners – who had outlined their demands to McCarthy last month – put out a new letter saying some of the concessions he announced are insufficient and making clear they’re still not sold on him, though they did say progress is being made.

“Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and thus, no means to measure whether promises are kept or broken,” the members wrote in the letter obtained by CNN.

Conference minutes on Rules for the Speaker’s Rejection: Reply to Diaz-Balart, Jim McCarthy, Joe McCarthy, and John Gimenez

If McCarthy fails to live up to his promises, the rules allow for a vote on removing him from the speaker’s chair at any time. A few Republicans, along with the other Democrats, would be able to oust him.

Some moderates – who fear the motion to vacate will be used as constant cudgel over McCarthy’s head – pushed back and expressed their frustration during the call, sources said.

Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said he wasn’t happy with the low threshold McCarthy agreed to, though he indicated he would swallow it, but only if it helps McCarthy win the speakership. Other members made clear that the rules package that was negotiated will be off the table if McCarthy’s critics end up tanking his speakership bid.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida pressed McCarthy on whether this concession on the motion to vacate will win him the 218 votes. But he did not directly answer, though McCarthy said earlier on the call that people were “slowly” moving in the right direction.

McCarthy said that he disagreed with Gaetz and that the rest of the conference could not support the threshold of a single person. The Republican from California said that it wasn’t about him. Gaetz was still non-committal but said if McCarthy came down to a one-person threshold, he would entertain it.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida then repeated Diaz-Balart’s question, asking McCarthy to answer it. McCarthy told him that they needed to close the deal within a couple days, sources said.

If McCarthy agreed to bring the threshold to one lawmaker, Gaetz would vote for him, which is the same thing he did before Pelosi changed the rules. Gaetz said that McCarthy would not consider it if he made that offer now.

The package released late Sunday includes giving five Republicans the power to call for a vote on deposing the sitting speaker; restoring the ability to zero out a government official’s salary; giving lawmakers 72 hours to a read bill before it comes to the floor; and creating a new select commit to investigative the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and the FBI.

The rules package does not change the process for discharge petitions, which allows lawmakers to circumvent leadership and force a bill to the floor if it has the support of 218 lawmakers.

There are a number of items that could be of interest, including the rules package, which bars remote hearings and allows the House Ethics Committee to take ethic complaints from the public.

Four days before the House speaker vote, when his critics were still noncommittal about their support for his speakership bid, even after the California Republican had offered a number of key concessions – including making it easier to oust the sitting speaker – he attempted to give them the hard sell.

But now with just one day to go, a group of at least nine Republicans have made clear that they’re still not sold – despite McCarthy’s warning and even after he gave in to some of their most ardent demands, which he outlined during a Sunday evening conference call.

“To be honest, we are preparing for a fight. Not the way we want to start out in our new majority, but you can’t really negotiate against the position of ‘give us everything we ask for and we won’t guarantee anything in return,’” The Republican Governance Group is made up of members who are centrist and from the state of North Dakota.

I give Kevin a ton of credit for his hard work. He’s brought everyone in and worked really hard to figure out a way forward. A way to make this place run better. I get the sense that some people are not willing to negotiate in good faith.

McCarthy spent a week in between Christmas and New Years negotiating with critics and supporters to find a compromise on rules changes designed to win over holdouts.

The Never-Kevin Movement: Voting for a Prolonged Speaker of the House House Subsequent to the Biden Expenditure

He can only afford to lose four votes on the House floor, and so far, at least five Republicans have vowed to oppose him, with nearly a dozen other GOP lawmakers publicly saying they’re still not there yet.

McCarthy had a call with the group of five families that represent various ideological groups in the House GOP. A broad investigative panel to focus on the Biden administration was among the demands from the right outlined by the California Republican.

Before Nancy Pelosi changed the rules, one member of the party could call for a vote to topple the speaker but they wanted leadership to not play in primaries.

McCarthy decided to delay the races for committee chairs until after the speaker vote. He said it was to allow freshman members to have input in the process, but other members believe it was a way to insulate himself from potential criticism from members who end up losing their races.

Trump encouraged people to support McCarthy’s speaker bid, and publicly endorsed his candidacy. Various groups of lawmakers blasted out statements and letters to vote for him no matter how many ballots it takes, in order to act as a counterbalance to the so-called Never Kevin movement.

McCarthy supporters have considered using hardball tactics, including trying to kick critics off their committees if they don’t fall in line, and threatening to join with Democrats to get a more moderate speaker. At one point, the group even started wearing “O.K.” buttons around the Capitol, which stands for “Only Kevin” – a joking nod to McCarthy’s opposition.

During the holiday season, McCarthy’s defenders vowed to him and each other that they wouldn’t let a handful of members control their conference.

“People want to get to work and this has just been holding us up,” Rep. David Joyce of Ohio, a leader of the Republican Governance Group, told CNN, of the protracted speaker’s fight. “I have people who say they don’t care if it is 500 times, they are voting for Kevin. There is no one else.

A committee in charge of administrative matters sent a letter last week detailing the implications and pitfalls of a speaker’s fight. The memo states that committees will not be able to pay their staff if House Rules package is not approved.

The same memo that was obtained by CNN warned that if the rules package isn’t adopted, student loan payments for committee staff wouldn’t be disbursed.

It is just one of many ways the battle over the next speaker could keep the House and the Republican majority from being efficient in their opening days.

A standard protocol was followed by CNN last week when boxes from McCarthy’s office were moved into the speaker’s suite, a sign he is committed to seeking the job.

One member said of the current standoff that it was a “bizarre game of chicken.” Both sides have ripped off the steering wheel from the dashboard, and they are pedaling to the metal.

Benghazi: The First Time Congress Appointed Senator Matt Gaetz – The Case for a Majority-Republican Speaker

On the opening day of Congress, there is a promise of better things to come, and this is usually marked by a lot of fanfare. It could be that hope is dashed this year, if the House fails to chose a speaker on the first ballot.

“Maybe the right person for the job of speaker of the House isn’t someone who has sold shares of themself for more than a decade to get it,” Matt Gaetz, the hard-right Florida congressman, said on the House floor before nominating Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for speaker before a second round of voting Tuesday.

But none of it has been enough. The first time voting went beyond one round in 100 years happened Tuesday, when Congress adjourned without McCarthy as speaker.

The rise of intransigence among a hard-right part of the GOP is due in part to the Tea Party and its followers, and also to the fact that there is an anti-establishment movement within the GOP.

Republicans rode the Tea Party wave in 2010 to win control of the House, but they paid a heavy price. In the past, it had been routine and protected U.S. credit to have arguments over raising the debt ceiling, as opposed to five years of lack of cooperation by the speaker.

The ostensible reason for the GOP-led Benghazi investigation was to find out what happened in an attack on an American embassy in Libya, where four people died – not to hurt Clinton. But Clinton, who was secretary of state in the Obama administration, was the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

At the end of the day, the job of speaker isn’t supposed to be about one person’s ambition but what they can get done to fix problems in the country, and this is taking place at a time when people are already cynical about the intentions of politicians in Washington and what they are trying to accomplish.

Why did McCarthy not believe he could stick to his criticism of Donald Trump after the insurrection? Is it worth sticking to your critics?

That’s why McCarthy didn’t believe he could stick to his criticism of Trump after Jan. 6, heading down to Trump’s Florida home just weeks after the insurrection and posed for a photo with him.

Trump maintained his power with the base and endorsed scores of candidates in the 2022 midterms. They did well in primaries, but many lost in competitive swing districts.

There is a great irony to the fact that had there actually been a red wave and Republicans won more seats, McCarthy could have had enough votes to win the speakership and wouldn’t even be in this position.

At the 11th hour, he tried to play tough guy, threatening the defectors with stripping them of committee assignments. It appeared that the reverse effect of what he and his allies were intending was done by that.

There is some question as to how hard Trump actually tried. On the day of the vote, and in the days leading up to it, for example, he hasn’t posted anything on his social media platform to boost McCarthy.

The question now is – not just for McCarthy but for anyone with ambition and has to make choices between what they believe and what they’re willing to compromise – was it worth it?

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146814718/this-was-supposed-to-be-kevin-mccarthys-moment-instead-gop-chaos-reigns

“Dems in disarray”: Reply to Rep. Kevin McCarthy after the Democratic Reconvening Referendum on Oct. 7

For all the talk in Washington of “Dems in disarray,” this is again another example of the chaos that continues to surround House Republicans. With just a four-seat majority, how can they govern if they’re going through all this just to pick a leader?

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaking to reporters late Tuesday evening in the Capitol. “I’m staying until we win,” he said.

But on Wednesday, after the House reconvened, Mr. McCarthy lost a fourth ballot on the same margins as the third, with 20 defectors this time throwing their support behind Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, the first Black man ever to be nominated by Republicans for the job. The representative from Indiana who had previously supported Mr. McCarthy votedpresent in order to deprive him of a badly needed vote but also to impede him less than if she had voted for another lawmaker.

Even after former President Donald J. Trump appealed to House Republicans to end the stalemate, the fourth-ballot vote signaled that they were not close to breaking the logjam.

The endorsement failed to move a single defector in Mr. McCarthy’s direction. With a fifth vote underway, the GOP leader and his allies were still working behind the scenes to get votes.

There is a historic stalemate. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California is fighting to become House speaker, but a group of hard-right Republicans is blocking his bid and paralyzing the start of the new Congress. Here’s what to know:

Mr. McCarthy has vowed not to back down until he secures the speakership, raising the prospect of a grueling stretch of votes that could go on for days.

According to Representative Ken Buck, who voted for Mr. McCarthy three times, Kevin knows that this is his last chance and he will play it as long as he can. “He withdrew once so that he would have this chance. He won’t have this chance again.

Right-wing Republicans coalesced around Representative Jim Jordan, a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, as an alternative to Mr. McCarthy.

He fell short again and again on Tuesday, drawing no more than 203 votes — far below a majority and fewer than the votes received by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader whose caucus remained united behind him. Mr. McCarthy won 202 votes and his support waned.

After a humiliating three-day stretch of 11 consecutive defeats in an election that is now the most protracted such contest since 1859, Mr. McCarthy dispatched his emissaries Thursday night to finalize terms with the ultraconservative rebels, including agreeing to conditions he had previously refused to countenance in an effort to sway a critical mass of defectors.

McCarthy said that there was no timetable on when he would get to 218 votes, even though there had been progress in negotiations. He said it was okay if it took a little longer.

Talks are continuing among Republicans after negotiations aimed at winning over McCarthy opponents picked up steam on Thursday. Key House GOP negotiators said they were moving closer to an agreement that would bring McCarthy closer to 218.

A group of members were close to a deal that would have mended alliances and helped rebuild trust, but they were hampered by a bad Tuesday conference meeting.

The House Rules Committee on the House Minority Caucus and House Rules Issues with Rep. Tom Emmer, John McHenry, and J. R. McCarthy

“Rules, structure and process dictate outcomes in this place, in a substantial way,” McHenry said. It’s important that all those things are in place.

The last 36 hours has shown me how much effort is put in to get into the substance of the challenges.

McHenry said they are not discussing issues like specific committee assignments for holdouts, but talking about their agenda around issues like spending.

After viewing a deal in Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer’s office Thursday evening, one of the holdouts told CNN, “This is changes that we want.”

Norman said the majority of the deal is about rule changes, like a rule to review bills within 72 hours. The deal did not address committee assignments, according to Norman.

He also agreed to allow for more members of the Freedom Caucus to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee, which dictates how and whether bills come to the floor, and to vote on a handful of bills that are priorities for the holdouts, including proposing term limits on members and a border security plan.

McCarthy said there were no negotiations about giving subcommittee chairmanships to dissidents, and they would not lose committee assignments.

Moderates have grown increasingly frustrated over the concessions, which may make it harder for the new GOP majority to effectively govern, because they will likely still swallow them.

McCarthy was defiant earlier in the day on Thursday in the face of the stiff headwinds, saying that he will continue to face opposition until he reaches a deal with his detractors.

Is There an Alternative to McCarthy? A Study of a Single Legislator Rule that Forces a Snap Vote to oust the Speaker

They included allowing a single lawmaker to force a snap vote at any time to oust the speaker, a rule that would effectively codify a standing threat that Mr. McCarthy would be at the mercy of hard-right lawmakers at all times, and could be removed instantly if he crossed them.

What do they want? The right-wing rebellion against Mr. McCarthy is rooted not just in personal animosity, but also an ideological drive. The holdouts want to limit the size of the government, and change the way Congress works in order to make it simpler to do so.

Is there an alternative to McCarthy? Republican candidates not challenging Mr. McCarthy is a big factor in his favor. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in the House, is seen by many as the most obvious backup.

How does this end? House precedent states that if someone gets the majority, members take more than one vote. Until a speaker is chosen, the House is essentially a useless entity. It cannot pass laws or even swear in its members.

Why Is Your Way to Win? Commentary on the House Speaker’s Dilemma: The Case for Changing the GOP, Not Just As You Think

Charlie Dent was formerly the chair of the House ethics committee and the chair of the House appropriations subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies. He is a commentator for CNN. The views are his own and have nothing to do with this commentary. View more opinion on CNN.

The drawn-out spectacle that was the House speaker election laid bare the fracture and dysfunction within the House Republican conference. It ended after four days and 15 votes.

It raises the question: Is surrendering your way to win really winning? And when will this appeasement ever end, considering it only makes this extremist faction more powerful?

Anyone surprised by the dysfunction this week should not have been; the House GOP conference has been growing increasingly dysfunctional over the past 13 years. The chaotic machinations witnessed by the world this week are simply a continuation of the dysfunction that began after the Tea Party swept the House in 2010.

We are in the year 2023. The malcontents are still digging in – the only difference now is that there is a smaller governing majority. The world will soon know that there is no GOP governing majority.

A paradigm shift is long overdue. Pragmatic and rational Republican members, who bristled at the concessions McCarthy handed to Gaetz and his ilk, must force a course correction and change the dynamics.

Retribution is the best served dish in this case. It’s time for rational House Republicans to push back and use their leverage – starting with the rules package. The chaos caucus would be better served if they gave them a taste of their own medicine and said no until their demands are met.

The hardliners also secured a promise that a McCarthy-aligned super PAC would not intervene in open, safe seat GOP primaries. Why empower fringe elements even further in a way that will only produce more members of Congress who are disinterested in governing? These are acts of self-destruction.

It’s time to stop feeding crocodiles. Republicans must fight and resist. Two can play this game. Gaetz said that he had to run out of things he could even imagine to ask for because the chaos caucus made demands that upset them.

The ability to function is in danger. Democracy in America is seen by its authoritarian adversaries as outdated and cannot meet the needs of its people. It’s time to prove them wrong by stamping out the extremist elements within our midst who deny the results of free and fair elections and wish to wreak havoc on America’s hallowed temple of democracy.

The newly elected California Republican has leveled up to a series of challenges with bigger stakes for all Americans and less room for error for a man who needed 15 attempts to get the gavel.

The rules package is needed to stop spending cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other spending measures – comment on Gonzales and Tapper on the CNN program on Sunday

Even some of the most hardline conservatives say they don’t plan to propose cuts to Social Security or Medicare – something Trump has been encouraging Republicans not to do – and insist their plan will only focus on the discretionary side of spending.

The other way, besides spending cuts, for the government to cut down on deficit spending, is to raise taxes. The rules bring back a requirement that a majority of the House sign off on any tax increases.

How am I going to look at our allies and tell them I need them to increase their defense budget but America is not going to increase theirs? On Sunday, Gonzales said on CBS.

Nancy Mace is a Republican from South Carolina, and she said on the same program that she is on the fence about the rules package because it was written behind closed doors with fringe Republicans.

It is ironic that those who voted for McCarthy believed they were achieving a path to a more open government by sticking with him and not agreeing with the rules package being hashed out behind closed doors.

The leaders of both parties have stopped the amendments from being passed in the full House. They have relied on debate in the Appropriations and Authorization committees.

“Too often bills are cooked up with handful of people, they are brought through with the rules committee, jammed through and you have to vote yes or no”, Roy told Jake Tapper on Sunday. There is a need for a small conflict in this town.

He wants more of the openness and free form debate – the kind that Americans saw on the House floor during the speaker fight – to be present in spending discussions.

The idea that these debates are necessary was adopted by the critics of the speaker fight.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/politics/new-challenges-what-matters/index.html

The Collaborative Conversation on the Debt Ceiling: Correspondence with Rep. Greg Pence, White House Speaker Andrew Bates, Homeland Security, and Defense

Roy urged party leaders to find a way to raise the debt ceiling without waiting for a must-do moment.

It’s a recipe that – some fear – could take the nation to the brink of a potentially cataclysmic default, especially since some positions against raising the limit at all seem intractable.

If it included every one of its priorities, then Rep. Greg Pence would vote for a debt ceiling increase. That is the thing I hear back at home.

White House officials went to great lengths not to comment on the matter, but when it came to the debt limit, there are clear questions regarding if McCarthy can secure the votes of 218 Republicans for anything at all.

Privately, Republicans have floated a range of ideas in exchange for an increase in the debt limit, including capping domestic spending at fiscal 2019 levels and bringing defense programs down to 2023 spending levels, GOP sources say – something that budget experts estimate could save $1.7 trillion over the next decade.

“You are always going to have a handful that will vote ‘no’ on everything. Nancy Mace, the Republican from South Carolina, said “So expect those people to exist.” It is important to negotiate. We are a divided Congress, and we got to act that way.”

“As they vote for even more tax welfare for the rich, Republicans across the House conference are demanding cuts to Medicare and Social Security as ransom for not triggering an economic crisis,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told CNN. Speaker McCarthy winked at his approval for Social Security and Medicare cuts because he claimed he opposed them. Is that their only plan? We have yet to see another.”

Roughly 21% of the federal government’s $5.8 trillion budget came from social security, while health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, accounted for 25% of the budget. 13% of the budget is for defense and national security, in a range of discretionary domestic programs.

The conservative crew met Friday morning and Monday to discuss ideas for spending cuts that could achieve a balanced budget within 10 years, and plan to unveil a blueprint outlining their vision in the coming weeks, according to a member involved in the talks.

Ringleaders of the group like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas have been in regular communication with McCarthy, and the group wants to meet with GOP leaders and House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington of Texas as discussions intensify.

“What we will have is a blueprint of what we will be fighting for,” South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, told CNN. “Not touching Social Security, not touching Medicare … Every agency is being looked at on discretionary. We are going to post it for the American people. And it will shock people. I believe people will like what they see.

Budget Correlations, the Debt Ceiling, and Super-Gamma-Financial Manipulation: Why We Are Trying to Talk About It

“I want us to be the adults in the room. The two things we have are possible crises, Massie told reporters. Take that away from the table. … It would give you the time and space, and it would take the pressure off.”

McCarthy is trying to build a consensus on what they will propose in exchange for raising the nation’s borrowing limit, but some appropriators acknowledge they may end up sitting out the debate.

The congressman said that he would be either the beneficiary or the victim, since his subcommittee’s topline spending number would be revealed. “And I’ll be directly affected.”

Most of the people are in the camp of being unable to default. The full faith and credit of the country is important, terribly important,” said Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas, a member of the House Budget Committee. “But just to say we’re going to raise the debt ceiling without any spending restraint is just not an acceptable outcome.”

If McCarthy becomes speaker, he will put a bill on the floor that will direct the Treasury Department to prioritize payments in the event that the debt ceiling is violated.

Massie said one idea he has been advocating for is passing a continuing resolution “as soon as possible” that funds the government at 99% of its current levels and pairs it with a debt ceiling increase, just so they have a backup plan in case they are unable to come to an agreement on the debt ceiling or funding the government.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican involved in that effort, said that their plan would be a fallback in case talks between the White House and McCarthy collapse.

Biden said at a high-dollar fundraiser in Manhattan that McCarthy had to make commitments “that are just absolutely off the wall for the speaker of the House to make.”

TheWhite House has coordinated with congress Democrats in an effort to encourage Republicans to come up with their own proposal, even as they maintain a united front against any negotiations.

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McCarthy said on “Face the Nation” that he wanted ” to find a reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling, but take control of this runaway spending.”

White House officials quickly responded to House Republican preferences they see as non-starters on the policy front and politically beneficial.

There are significant questions about whether House Republicans can find the necessary 218 votes for anything given the fierce opposition held by some in the conference about raising the debt ceiling.

Still, the focus on Medicare and Social Security even as McCarthy has moved to take changes off the table underscores the view inside the White House of the political salience of the programs.

White House officials point to the framing of “strengthening” the programs as a euphemism for structural changes they oppose. Absent a clear House Republican proposal, that has become a central line of attack in a debate that is still in its early stages – with potentially dramatic consequences ahead.

“Now, as they vote for even more tax welfare for the rich, Republicans across the House Conference are demanding cuts to Medicare and Social Security as ransom for not triggering an economic crisis,” Bates said.

The senator developed his political skills in the Senate. The other in the brisk and often bare-knuckle House. Both overcame setbacks, doubts and an endless number of hurdles to reach their peak and are now in a relationship that will help define the next two years.

Expectations for the meeting are low after both sides tried to set the conditions for a battle to raise the debt ceiling.

“This is the first round of about 20,” one House Democrat told CNN of the months leading up to the June deadline to raise the debt ceiling. “Settle in.”

A president and Speaker must navigate a June deadline for raising the debt ceiling, with a potentially catastrophic economic crisis looming if they fail, and little in the form of tangible common ground to present an obvious path forward.

White house officials are aware of the political value of the House Republican proposal, which could lead to the splitting of the Republican conference.

Biden spent a lot of time with McCarthy, and he was aware that the two weren’t close. A relationship with the second-ranked member of the House was considered a critical part of the vice president’s portfolio.

In part, that’s due to the role of the House minority leader at a moment Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress, aides said. Democrats could move bills through the chamber without Republicans, unlike the Senate, where Biden’s major bipartisan legislative proposals required GOP votes.

“He’s a man of his word,” Biden said of McConnell at the event. “When he gives you his word, you can take it to the bank; you can count on it. He is willing to work with someone else to get things done.

He will be talking to him, and he will work with McCarthy where there are areas of common ground.

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To the extent White House officials experienced a level of schadenfreude in the initial stages of McCarthy’s marathon effort to secure the Republican votes to be speaker, it shifted sharply to a palpable sense of bewilderment by the time McCarthy had suffered through 14 failed votes.

White House officials maintain that the position is not a bluff or posturing and that Vice President Biden’s refusal to talk about anything other than a clean increase is in fact a position that runs headlong. They are deeply involved in the preparation for the battle, keeping a close eye on House GOP legislative proposals from both present and past.

The White House has consistently said lifting the ceiling is not up for negotiation. Biden said earlier this month that a default would be “a calamity that exceeds anything that’s ever happened financially in the United States.”

Democrats point out that Republican lawmakers voted to lift the debt ceiling three times under former President Donald Trump — and argue that the health of the economy should not be used as a bargaining chip.

McCarthy called it “a good first meeting,” adding, “We both have different perspectives on this, but I thought this was a good meeting. We will keep talking and see if we can get there. I think that at the end of the day, we can find common ground.”

The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress in January, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills and escalating pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a catastrophic default.

Senate Republicans have indicated they will sit back and see how the House GOP maneuvers a way to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit – before deciding if they need to insert themselves into the process.

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McCarthy did not have a specific proposal to send to Biden, he had heard suggestions from key players in his conference and was unlikely to make a specific offer.

House Republicans had been hoping to strengthen their negotiating hand with the White House by uniting around a proposal, but finding conference-wide consensus on spending cuts has proved challenging.

Biden will seek a commitment from Speaker McCarthy that the proposals from his Caucus for default by another name are not acceptable.

They stated, “president Biden will ask the speaker to assure the American people and the world that the United States will honor all of its financial obligations.”

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate majority whip, told “CNN This Morning” on Wednesday that Biden should “absolutely not” negotiate on raising the nation’s borrowing limit and raised fears a default could tank the US economy. He reiterated his support for Biden’s position, while leaving the door open for spending cuts during future negotiations.

House GOP Whip Tom Emmer said he doubted there would be any agreement on Wednesday, but said,”Everything’s on the table” when asked about defense spending cuts.