House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is in danger of not passing his proposed debt ceiling bill after multiple House Republicans have indicated that they would not sign the bill as it currently stands.
McCarthy rolled out his 320-page proposal on Wednesday, but some Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) have claimed they are unhappy with it.
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“The whip count on this is not good,” an unnamed senior GOP source told Axios on Thursday. McCarthy needs 218 votes in order to send the proposal to the Senate, which means he can only afford to lose four votes.
The new bill includes raising the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or until March 25, 2024, whichever comes first.
GOP members have competing complaints that could tank the passage of the bill. Some East Coast lawmakers are looking for a way to leverage the bill to expand the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Other conservatives hope for stricter language on employment requirements for food stamps, and some have blamed the House Freedom Caucus for making McCarthy include far-right policies.
“We think that on the next round, when there’s a bipartisan effort, that probably doesn’t include the Freedom Caucus folks … that’s when we can shoehorn SALT through,” another unnamed House Republican told the outlet.
Despite the hesitation from some lawmakers, McCarthy remains optimistic that the bill can get through the House without major concessions.
“We’re in very good shape. We just rolled it out yesterday. We’re working, talking through all the members,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday.
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The United States reached its debt limit in January, but the U.S. is not expected to default on its loans until the summer. Failure to raise the debt ceiling could result in catastrophic consequences, economists have warned.
The U.S. has never defaulted on its obligations in the history of its fiscal showdowns.
