Kevin McCarthy explains his plan to raise the debt ceiling
House speaker Kevin McCarthy discusses how President Joe Biden has yet to work on the debt ceiling with him and what the GOP has accomplished so far on ‘Hannity.’
Speaker Kevin McCarthy blasted President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday in the House on Wednesday for failing to get anything done on the debt ceiling as he announced the House Republicans’ plan for addressing it.
"While President Biden and Senate Democrats waste time, House Republicans are taking action," McCarthy said on the House floor as he accused top Democrats of being "missing in action" on the issue.
"America has a $31 trillion debt. Washington is on the clock. But what are Democrats doing? President Biden is skipping town to deliver a speech in Maryland rather than sitting down to address the debt ceiling," McCarthy said.
McCarthy has been asking for a White House meeting for months to discuss a spending cut/debt limit deal, but Biden has refused to consider discussing the issues together and says the debt limit should be raised without any preconditions.
MCCONNELL RIPS BIDEN'S 'EXTREME POSITION' ON DEBT LIMIT IN FIRST SPEECH BACK AFTER CONCUSSION
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitols Statuary Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Republicans announced their own plan on Wednesday, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023. McCarthy claimed it would "provide more than $4.5 trillion in savings to the American taxpayer."
In contrast, he accused Biden of "giving America’s debt the southern border treatment – ignore it and hope that it goes away." And he accused Senate Democrats of playing along.
"Senator Schumer, he's just missing in action. Rather than find common ground with the House, Senator Schumer’s having the Senate vote on a nonbinding resolution commending and congratulating the University of Connecticut men's basketball team for winning the 2023 Men's Basketball Championship," McCarthy said. "That's not all Senator Schumer has been doing. Just last month, he's approved March as Maine’s maple syrup month. Talk about taking on big issues. I wonder what May's month will be about."
HOUSE WILL VOTE SOON TO CAP FEDERAL SPENDING AT 2022 LEVEL, RAISE DEBT LIMIT FOR ONE YEAR: MCCARTHY
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 18: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) arrives to a news conference following the Senate Democrat weekly policy luncheons at the U.S. Capitol Building on April 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker)
McCarthy said his bill would lift the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion or through March 2024, whichever benchmark is hit first.
In addition to that, the legislation would raise work requirements for federal benefits, claw back billions of dollars in unused COVID-19 pandemic funds, and repeal Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and the $80 billion he allocated toward the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act.
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US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (L), Republican of California, and US President Joe Biden attend the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon on St. Patrick's Day at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO/AFP via Getty)
Along with capping nondiscretionary spending at fiscal year 2022 levels, it limits growth on new spending for 10 subsequent years to just 1% annually.
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The bill is expected to come for a vote on the House floor sometime next week, but it almost certainly doomed in the Senate, where Schumer has so far insisted on entertaining only a "clean" debt ceiling increase.
"Now that we've introduced a clear plan for responsible debt limit increase, they have no more excuse and refuse to negotiate," McCarthy said on Wednesday.
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