National
McCarthy scrambles to lock down votes for GOP debt plan amid concerns in the ranks
(CNN) — House Republican leaders are still struggling to get to 218 votes on their package to raise the national debt limit — and are uncertain when they will be able to hold the vote, according to multiple GOP sources.
While Republicans hadn’t yet scheduled the vote, they had made Wednesday their informal goal to lock down the votes and push their package through along party lines. It’s now unclear when the vote will occur.
GOP leaders are warning their members that if they sink the bill, it would give President Joe Biden, who has thus far refused to engage in negotiations over raising the nation’s borrowing limit, the upper hand in the high-stakes fight. Biden issued a veto threat for the legislation on Tuesday.
Republican leaders remain confident they’ll get the votes. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes in the narrowly-divided chamber, and GOP leaders are facing resistance on several fronts within their own ranks.
“We will let you know,” McCarthy said Tuesday when asked if he would be forced to change the bill to win over skeptical Republicans.
McCarthy later opened the door to pushing back the timeline for when the House may vote, saying that the vote will come “this week” instead of locking the vote in for Wednesday.
“Vote on it this week. Yes,” he said.
Four Iowa House Republicans oppose the bill’s inclusion of a provision repealing ethanol tax breaks, according to several GOP sources. Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson has been lobbied by GOP leaders as they try to secure her vote.
Also narrowing Republicans’ margin are some members such as Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett who say they are “still a no” because of their philosophical opposition to raising the US borrowing limit. And others like swing-district Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and embattled Rep. George Santos of New York have suggested that they might vote against the plan.
Some on the far right such as Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida want to make even stricter the work requirements proposed for Medicaid beneficiaries contained in the plan even stricter. Gaetz has warned he would vote against the plan if the bill’s language isn’t changed to his liking.
But Republican leaders have — so far — resisted calls to make changes to the legislation, fearing doing so would complicate the bill’s chances for passage and force them to make a slew of other revisions.
Meetings will continue Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as McCarthy tries to limit GOP defections since he can afford to lose no more than four in order to pass the bill.
The Biden administration said Tuesday it would veto the House GOP’s proposed debt ceiling legislation, calling it “a reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred.”
“The President has been clear that he will not accept such attempts at hostage-taking,” the statement from the Office and Management and Budget says. “House Republicans must take default off the table and address the debt limit without demands and conditions, just as the Congress did three times during the prior Administration.”
This story and headline have been updated to reflect additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
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By: Pristine Villarreal
April 25, 2023
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