A Republican bill that aims to raise the debt limit and also cut down government funding was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The decision regarding the bill came after the last-minute changes that influenced the decision of a small group within the GOP caucus who were not particularly supportive of the idea. The bill made it past the voting stage with a very slight margin and the resulting voting tally marked the number at 217 – 215.
It should also be noted that four Republicans sided with the Democratic party and voted against the signature piece of legislation put forward by their party.
The approval of the bill is a tactical win for Kevin McCarthy who is the speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
When the day started before the voting for the approval of the bill, there were roughly eight members in the House who were uncertain about their stand but Kevin McCarty was able to effectively navigate between the problems and arriver at a convincing conclusion for the members, which ultimately resulted in the approval; of the bill.
Kevin McCarthy was very much delighted by the outcome of the voting and he reacted to the result by saying ‘We’ve done our job.’
McCarthy also added that the approval of the bill will ensure that the president will have to address the issue of federal spending limit and that he wouldn’t be able to ignore the issue without addressing it for long again. ‘Now he should sit down and negotiate,’ says Kevin McCarthy.
As for President Joe Biden, he has stated to veto the Republican package if it is to ever reach his desk, and considering the slight majority that the Democrats hold in the Senate, the possibility of the bill reaching the desk of the president is also very slim.
After the approval of the bill, President Joe Biden stated that he was happy to meet with McCarthy but the discussions regarding extending the debt limit would not be the topic that they met. Biedn was stern in stating that and he ended his statement by saying that the decision regarding the tropic was not negotiable.
The passing of the 320-page package by the House is just a start and the coming weeks are expected to be eventful as far as the United States political scenario is concerned.
The President and Congress will now have to come up with a sensible and practical plan in order for the nation’s debt to be lifted to facilitate further borrowing and also to devise plans accordingly to ward off a possible fiscal crisis.
According to the bill passed in the House today, the federal debt limit is expected to be raised by $1.5 trillion into 2024 The current debt limit of the country stands at $31 trillion, and along with trying to increase the debt limit of the coin try, the bill also would roll back the federal spending.
The bill will also ensure different other procedures like clawing back all the unspent Covid -19 funds and imposing even tougher work requirements for those who currently receive food stamps from the government and those who receive any other kind of benefits.
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It will also put a stop to the much-debated plan of President Joe Biden to give up $20,000 in student loans. The bill will also put an end to different landmark renewable energy tax breaks that were signed by the president into law last year.
The members of the Democratic party described the bill as a ‘ransom note,’ ‘an unserious bill,’ and also as a ‘shakedown.’
Along with the Democrats, a few fellow Republicans also expressed their speculations about the bills passed by the House.
As for South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, the bill did not go far enough in lowering the spending and she also added that the bill could seriously affect the solar industry of her state. Andy Biggs of Arizona also shared a similar doubt regarding the bill and she stated that she was dubious about the debt ceiling bill proposed by Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Democrats argue that the bill and the plan put forward by the Republican party would result in a 22% reduction in many social support programs offered by the government. This is because the military would be free from the spending g caps in separate spending bills which are to be written coming spring and Summer.
As for the members and leaders of the Senate, they are the ones who have the authority to alter the fate of the bill next. The Democrats hold a slight majority in the Senate House and according to the majority leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer, the passage of the legislation from the House would be a ‘wasted effort.’
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