President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement ‘in principle‘ on the debt ceiling this week. Though the deal stills needs Congressional approval, Speaker McCarthy lauded it as “worthy of the American people”. The House of Representatives will get just 72 hours to read the legislation concerning trillions of dollars before bringing it to the floor for a vote.
Biden said the deal was a compromise “because it prevents what could have been a catastrophic default and would have led to an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost.” But the agreement has been referred to as an “utter capitulation” by the likes of Rep Dan Bishop (R-NC), Republican Ralph Norman (R-SC). Norman tweeted the deal was “insanity.”
“We just risked the entire US economy to save $50 billion which is just 0.2% of GDP,” according to a global capital markets newsletter.
Key Points of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
- The federal debt ceiling will be raised by over $4 trillion without cutting any current federal spending;
- Spending will increase by one percent in 2025;
- Defense spending will not be capped, and will stay in line with Biden’s 2024 budget request of $886 billion;
- The proposed deal suggests spending will be cut by 0.2 percent of the United States GDP – around $50 billion;
- Congress will “claw back” some unspent COVID-19 funds, and cut $400 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Global Health Fund” that sends billions to health programs around the world, including China;
- Accelerating approval process for energy projects, requiring only one federal agency to review a permit;
- A reduction in the $80 billion in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding pushed through by the Democrats;
- Reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), requiring adults without dependents between 49 and 54 to work for food aid;
- Restarting student loan payments, though no start date has been specified.
As it stands, the Republicans who have announced their intention to vote against the bill include Chip Roy (R-TX), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Tim Burchett (R-TN).
“Utter capitulation in progress. By the side holding the cards,” Bishop said.
“This bill almost guarantees you $4 trillion with no cuts,” said former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon on Sunday. “It’s dead on arrival.”
“Any Republican that votes for this—they should primary them because this is nothing but a set of small optics compared to the real problem. The problem that this exacerbates the debt problem because it takes off any limits to what can be added to the debt ceiling. There’s no number, and we know it’s for two years.”