Leading House Republicans on Tuesday announced plans to vote this week on a bill to cut spending and raise the public debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion, despite signs of a growing opposition within their own ranks.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who hopes the plan will push talks with President Joe Biden, ignored reporters who asked if Republicans had the 218 votes needed to pass a measure that would increase the borrowing limit by $1.5 trillion.
However, he said he was ready to move forward without changing the law in order to win the support of members of Congress.
“If there are any changes, I will definitely tell you. But right now we are working on it,” the speaker said.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the bill, if passed, would reduce the federal budget deficit by $4.8 trillion over the next decade.
McCarthy can afford to lose no more than four votes to win the approval of the House of Representatives.
Whatever its fate in the House of Representatives, the proposal is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House has said President Joe Biden would veto it if the bill passes. at her office.
Biden has said Congress should raise the debt ceiling without any conditions, as it has done three times under Donald Trump.
Republicans are hoping a show of unity could force Biden to negotiate after months of stalemate.
The House Rules Committee will consider the bill on Tuesday afternoon.
Washington and Wall Street are worried about the “end of the world” in a few weeks, when the US Treasury will no longer be able to pay all its bills. This will lead to a default that will shake the entire global economy.
The last protracted stalemate over the debt ceiling in 2011 led to a downgrade in the US credit rating, which rattled financial markets and increased the cost of borrowing.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday that failure to raise the debt ceiling would lead to a “financial disaster” that would dramatically increase the cost of borrowing.
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