House Rules Committee Advances Bill to Raise Debt

The House Rules Committee narrowly advanced a bipartisan bill to raise the federal debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion, despite Republican opposition, according to the New York Post.

The GOP-controlled committee voted 7-6, with no Democrats supporting the measure. The bill faces resistance from the House Freedom Caucus, which threatens to derail the deal and jeopardize Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s position.

The bill, dubbed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, suspends the debt limit until 2025 but includes provisions for spending cuts, work requirements for food benefit programs, and reductions in IRS funding.

The Post notes that “the bill would limit non-defense discretionary spending to 1% annual growth, claw back tens of billions of dollars in unspent COVID-19 relief funds and tie food benefit programs to work requirements.”

“It would cut $136 billion in federal spending, at least $1.4 billion of which would come from the Internal Revenue Service — far less than the $72 billion cut Republicans passed in one of their first bills this Congress to thwart the hiring of an additional 87,000 IRS agents via Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.”

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the bill a “turd sandwich” that compromises Republican principles. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen set a new deadline of June 5 for an agreement on raising the debt limit, highlighting the urgency of the situation.