Washington – A deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling is heading to a crucial vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, the next step in averting a possible default now just days away.
The bill, titled the Fiscal Responsibility Act, cleared its first major hurdle on Tuesday when the House Rules Committee introduced the bill by a 7-6 vote.
The House approved 241-187 on a subsequent vote to begin debate on the bill, Wednesday afternoon, when about 36 Democrats joined the Republican majority in voting yes.
Full room voting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET and the legislation is expected to pass at that time as well, but frustration in both parties has led to leaders working around the clock to drum up enough support among their members. The Treasury has estimated that the government will run out of cash to pay all of its bills by Monday.
“Today we will pass one of the biggest pieces in American history,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters as he entered the Capitol on Wednesday. “It’s just one small step that puts us on the right track.”
McCarthy added that “everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but in history, I’d like to be here with this bill today.”
The vote will be a major test for the House speaker, who faces a potential revolt from conservative hardliners if he fails to get a majority of his two caucuses (112 Republicans) to support the deal.
As of Wednesday morning, 32 House Republicans said they were against the bill.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the chamber after a procedural vote is passed at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
“We won’t have 218 [Republicans]McCarthy told ABC News on Wednesday, conceding what seemed likely for days — his party would need Democratic votes to pass the law and raise the debt ceiling.
Such collaboration was a red flag for other conservatives.
“If a majority of Republicans oppose legislation and you use the Democrats to pass it, that would immediately be a violation of the deal we made with McCarthy … and that would likely lead to an immediate motion for repeal.” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Tuesday on Newsmax.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R.C., told ABC News senior congressional reporter Rachael Scott that McCarthy had “lost some confidence in how to handle this.” The spokesman brushed off criticism that Democrats are “outsmarting” Republicans.
The eviction proposal, under new House rules McCarthy agreed to during the House leadership battle last January, would allow just one member of Congress to vote to impeach the Speaker. A simple majority of the House of Representatives would be needed to pass such a proposal.
Adding another layer to the GOP’s discontent is a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that found the deal would actually increase the number of people eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and increase the cost by $2.1 billion.
The work requirement for SNAP and other federal aid programs has been a major sticking point for Republicans in negotiations between McCarthy and President Joe Biden.
McCarthy said late Tuesday that the OCA was “completely wrong” and claimed the agency had “double-counted”.
Amid conservative uproar over the bill as too little a cut, McCarthy announced Wednesday the creation of a bipartisan commission to study the federal budget to look for potential waste that should be cut.
Across the aisle, House Democrats met behind closed doors with White House negotiators for several hours on Wednesday.
“In that meeting, I made it clear that I would support the legislation that came out today and that I support it without hesitation, reservation or fear,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies said Wednesday. “Not that it is perfect, but in divided government we cannot, of course, allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”
Many progressive Democrats have opposed provisions of the bill, but two major groups, the 100-member Alliance of New Democrats and the 46-member Problem Solving Caucus, supported the deal before Wednesday night’s vote.
“We continue to stress that House Republicans need to maintain their commitment to passing Resolution 150, which they themselves negotiated. And when that happens, Democrats will make sure there is no default,” Jeffries said.
If it passes to the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said his House would take over immediately.
“Once it is the Senate’s turn to act, I cannot stress enough that we have no margin — no margin — for error,” Schumer said in a speech Wednesday. “Either we move forward quickly and send this bipartisan agreement to the President’s desk or the federal government will default for the first time ever.”
A potential drawback would be a malfunctioning event, which could delay the process by up to a week.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave his approval of the bill, calling it “a down payment on the more progress that is yet to come.”
“When this agreement reaches the Senate, I will be proud to endorse it without delay,” McConnell said Wednesday.
“What I hope will happen is that those who have amendments, if they vote, will go back in time so that we can end Thursday or Friday and calm the country and calm the markets,” he told reporters.
–ABC News Trish Turner, Will Stickin, Lauren Beeler and Noah Meany contributed to this report.
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