Lawmakers Struggle with Federal Debt Ceiling amid Ideological and Procedural Hurdles

While Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a decisive deal to raise the federal debt ceiling, lawmakers are grappling with the issue after returning to Washington from the Memorial Day holiday on Tuesday, May 30. Difficulties were encountered with the bill.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have just five days until June 5, the latest date set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the U.S. government to start defaulting on its fiscal obligations

The new 99-page agreement calls for a two-year suspension of borrowing limits and limits on government spending during that time. It would cut spending on domestic priorities favored by Democrats, while increasing military spending by about 3%. At the same time, it expanded restrictions on federal food aid to encourage recipients to find work.

Biden and McCarthy face domestic backlash, both from progressive trends in the Democratic Party, which refuses to cut spending on any social welfare programs, and from the hard right wing of the Republican Party, which argues that the deal does not do enough to reduce federal spending.

Beyond the divisions, procedural points and hurdles have surfaced, both in the House and Senate, which could complicate efforts to avoid an unprecedented default by next Monday.

ideological dilemma

The deal would raise the current debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion through 2025, while limiting nondefense discretionary spending to $704 billion in fiscal year 2024. Republicans have resisted Democratic demands for a balance between defense spending and benefits. The agreement increases defense spending by about 3 percent in fiscal year 2024 and raises it to $895 billion in fiscal year 2025. Republican hawks argue that is below the rate of inflation and not close to the level needed to deal with growing global threats, especially from China. On the other hand, people in the Democratic Progressive Party have expressed their opposition to Biden’s concessions, especially at the expense of social welfare and food benefits for the unemployed elderly. That prompted some members of Congress from both parties to pledge to reject a vote on the draft resolution.

procedural obstacles

After reaching the new agreement, Biden and McCarthy spent much of the weekend touting the deal between lawmakers from their respective parties. Opponents of the bill in both chambers are likely to delay its passage, which could undermine efforts to avoid the first U.S. government default on its debt in history.

Some conservatives in the House and Senate said they opposed the deal because it did not go far enough to limit federal spending. Some progressives have accused Biden of acquiescing to strict spending limits.

McCarthy said at a news conference on Sunday that he expects more than 95 percent of Republicans in the House to support the bill. The House of Representatives will begin reviewing the draft law before the voting process begins on Wednesday, 31st.

It is worth mentioning that in January 2022, McCarthy made a series of procedural concessions to hardline lawmakers during his campaign for speaker of the House of Representatives, which made it more complicated for him to pass the agreement. The House will not bring the bill up for a vote until Wednesday. It was part of a deal McCarthy struck that gave lawmakers 72 hours to read the text before voting on the bill.

Even before every member of the House can vote, the bill needs to pass the House Rules Committee. McCarthy has named three ultra-conservative members to the committee as part of his deal to run for chairman of the committee. It is not yet known how they will vote. As a result, McCarthy is pinning his hopes on Democratic lawmakers to support the bill.

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, a member of the party’s Progressive Movement, said the “overwhelming majority” of House Democrats “is constantly changing their minds” about whether to support the deal.

If the House approves the proposed bill on June 1, it will face a tight schedule in the Senate, where passage could take several days. That’s partly because House Republicans have used their only chance to shorten a longstanding procedural hurdle in the Senate. Most Senate bills go through two votes, with the Senate agreeing to a vote to stop debate and then proceeding to final approval with a vote on the bill.

A majority of 60 votes is required to enter the final vote. Given the deep division in the House, 51 Democrats vs. 49 Republicans, if dissent emerges, the timeout could be extended by several days.

Some experts believe that even if the government fails to pay some of its bills on time on June 5 due to Congressional obstruction, there will be no widespread consequences because markets will view such a default as a procedural delay rather than a failure by the U.S. government to meet its obligations at all. its obligations.