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‘This Deal Is Insanity’: House Freedom Caucus Republicans Voice Dissatisfaction With Debt Ceiling Agreement

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1 year ago

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After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that he and President Biden had agreed in principle to deal to raise the debt limit on Saturday evening, a handful of House Freedom Caucus members have expressed dissatisfaction with the deal.

“I just got off the phone with the president a bit ago,” McCarthy wrote in a tweet Saturday. “After he wasted time and refused to negotiate for months, we’ve come to an agreement in principle that is worthy of the American people.”

McCarthy soon addressed reporters in a brief statement, saying that an agreement had been reached “in principle” while adding that there was still plenty of work to be done. The House GOP leader went on to say that portions of the agreement would be released in the coming hours and days.

The deal has been met with displeasure or outright disgust from a handful of House Freedom Caucus members, however.

“I am hearing the ‘deal’ is for a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit. IF that is true, I don’t need to hear anything else,” wrote U.S. Rep. Bob Good in a tweet Saturday. “No one claiming to be a conservative could justify a YES vote.”

Good previously stated that House Republicans could negotiate the same deal with a Democrat House majority, saying “This would be everything they wanted.”

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U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) also voiced his disapproval of the agreement in a series of tweets. “There are members of the GOP claiming Democrats got nothing from the ‘deal.’ Oh really? 1) An uncapped debt ceiling with an expiration date – worth approximately $4 trillion…? 2) basically no cuts – a freeze at bloated 2023 spending level?,” Roy tweeted.

He went on to list a number of issues he sees with the bill, including “ZERO claw back of the $1.2 Trillion ‘inflation reduction act,'” which he described as “crony giveaways to elite leftists for grid-destroying unreliable energy.” The Texas congressman also pointed out that the bill leaves nearly all additional IRS funding in-tact and offers Republicans “nothing” on border security.

“Does nothing for the border. Does nothing regarding pistol braces. Does nothing regarding Presidential overreach. And in many ways kills our leverage to get them through the appropriations process,” Roy said of the agreement.

Roy and Good were not the only House Republicans to say that the agreement hardly qualifies as a deal. This ‘deal’ is insanity,” said U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC). “A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to. Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better.”

“A $4 TRILLION debt ceiling increase?!,” wrote U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC). “That’s what the Speaker’s negotiators are going to bring back to us? Moving the issue of unsustainable debt beyond the presidential election, even though 60% of Americans are with the GOP on it? That must be a false rumor.”

Bishop went on to point out that the agreement keeps nearly all of the $80 billion allocated to the IRS in place. “Of the $80 billion Democrats appropriated to the IRS over ten years, the ‘deal’ rescinds $1.9 billion. You read that right. That’s the kind of ‘get’ that’s so good McCarthy agreed to increase the debt ceiling $4 trillion,” Bishop said.

“The DC Swamp has proposed the largest debt ceiling increase in our nation’s history – $4 trillion!!” wrote U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), adding that the agreement is a “disaster.”

 

A majority of Freedom Caucus members — including Good, Roy, Norman, Bishop and Rosendale — previously voted against McCarthy on the early ballots during this past January’s speaker election. While most Republicans eventually voted for McCarthy, they managed to secure a number of concessions, including the revival of a “motion to vacate,” which forces a vote on removing the speaker if just one member brings the motion forward.

Objections from Freedom Caucus members could potentially lead to a clash over House leadership as just five Republican McCarthy naysayers could force another fight over the gavel. In January, 19 House Republicans voted against McCarthy on the first ballot.

On Sunday morning, a reporter asked McCarthy if he was worried about a potential motion to vacate. “Not at all,” he replied.

Despite objections from the House Freedom caucus, McCarthy has expressed optimism that the agreement will get across the finish line, adding that it is “popular” with House Republicans. “At the end of the day, people can look together to be able to pass this,” Mccarthy told reporters at the Capitol on Sunday, adding that the agreement “doesn’t get everything everybody wanted.”

“I think you’re going to get a majority of Republicans voting for this bill,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “This is a good bill for the American public. The president agreed with this bill. So I think there’s going to be a lot of Democrats that will vote for it too.”

In a tweet Sunday, Democrat House Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said he was “thankful” Biden had reached an agreement in principle and looked forward to reviewing the bill when it was released.

Lawmakers will not be returning to work from the Memorial Day weekend before Tuesday, at the earliest. McCarthy has promised he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting, Newsmax reported.



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