House Republicans project confidence ahead of vote on debt-limiting deal

A bill to cut federal spending by more than a trillion dollars and raise the debt ceiling until the 2024 presidential election was put to a vote in the House on Wednesday, just days before a possible first default on payment of the public debt.

While diehard Republican lawmakers threatened to try to swallow the bill on Tuesdayparty leaders expressed optimism that there would be enough votes, from both parties, for passage.

‘This is a victory for the American people and future generations,’ said Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.), House Republican conference speaker, after a more than two-hour party meeting on Capitol Hill. American.

“I think we’re going to do well on the votes,” Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would save about $1.5 trillion over 11 years, through 2033, with about $1.3 trillion caps on annual funding for federal agencies and programs over the next two years, with the remainder of the savings from lower interest rates. Payments.

It is well below the approx. $3 trillion in new borrowing the Treasury is expected to accumulate by January 2025, however. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen juggled the accounts to stay below the current $31.38 trillion limit, but said the The Treasury defaults on Monday without action.

The bill, crafted over weeks of talks between House and White House Republican negotiators, would suspend the debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025, ensuring it doesn’t need to be raised before the 2024 presidential election, a victory for whites. Accommodation.

But the Republicans also scored some political victories for their side. They said Biden agreeing to all the terms after saying he wouldn’t negotiate the debt ceiling was a win.

The bill would also loosen permit restrictions for energy-related projects, require the administration to offset the costs of key regulations it issues, and take back $27 billion in COVID-related budget authorization that does not had not been used.

But another GOP priority, tightening work requirements for federal food aid recipients, surprised lawmakers. The CBO said that expanding the age range of beneficiaries required to work would reduce the number of beneficiaries of the supplementary nutrition assistance program, but not enough to compensate for the number of additional new beneficiaries made eligible for the program under policies included at the request of the White House.

The CBO said new eligibility requirements for homeless people and veterans meant SNAP rolls would increase slightly, by 0.2%. Rep. GT Thompson (R-Pa.) said the CBO got it wrong and overestimated the number of people newly eligible.

Although many Republican lawmakers thought the SNAP provisions would shrink helper roles and put more workers on the job market, the CBO’s score may allay Democrats’ concerns about it.

To pass the House, the bill will need 218 votes. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) told reporters he expected the GOP to bring in 150 from these. It’s unclear how the support will break down by party.

When asked if 150 Republican votes for a debt limitation bill was realistic with defections from GOP hardliners, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) called it a “completely possible”.