Four House Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues Wednesday in voting against the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which details the actions House GOP members want to see before agreeing to raise the federal debt ceiling.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has asked President Joe Biden for months to negotiate slashing the $31.5 trillion federal deficit before securing Republican support to raise the debt ceiling through March 31, 2024, or until the debt increases by $1.5 trillion. Democratic lawmakers, in response, demanded that the GOP leader provide a plan for what Republicans want to see on the chopping block.
After weeks of negotiations within his party, McCarthy finally passed a plan with a 217-215 vote Wednesday. The bill aims to cut much of federal spending to last year’s levels, including by placing a cap on subsequent budget growth at a 1 percent annual increase over the next decade. The measure also advances several Republican priorities, such as expediting new oil drilling projects and giving Congress a greater say to conduct oversight into the executive branch.
According to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would reduce the national deficit by $4.8 trillion overall and decrease mandatory spending by a net $700 billion.
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Four Republican lawmakers rejected the bill, including Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, who said in a statement posted to Twitter that the Limit, Save, Grow Act didn’t go far enough to curb national debt.
“Whether you drive off a cliff at 60 miles per hour or 80 miles per hour, the end result is the same: a horrific crash,” Biggs said. “That’s what we’re presented with today.”
“The Limit, Save, Grow Act doesn’t eliminate our need to borrow money and barely bends down the growth of our national debt,” the statement continued. “Capping spending at [2022] levels—levels that were inflated dramatically during COVID and would still exceed our annual revenues—is not aggressive enough.”
Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee said in a statement that he “has never voted to raise our debt limit no matter who was in charge,” and agreed that further action should be taken to reduce the national debt. Colorado Representative Ken Buck, who also rejected the bill, said that Wednesday’s plan didn’t go far enough to “rein in the federal government’s reckless spending.”
“This bill will only reduce the projected deficit by $4.8 trillion dollars over the next 10 years, leaving America with a $52 trillion debt during that time and our country on the brink of a fiscal crisis,” Buck said in a statement shared to his Twitter account. “Republicans must distinguish ourselves from Democrats by taking a stand against out-of-control spending and reversing course before it’s too late.”
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was among a handful of Republican legislators who kept McCarthy from being swiftly confirmed as House speaker in January, also took a stand against the measure Wednesday, reiterating that the proposal does not address the debt crisis.
“While I applaud the work of my Republican colleagues to demand better energy policy, regulatory reform, welfare-to-work requirements and less spending, a troubling fact remains,” read a statement from Gaetz’s office. “This plan will increase America’s debt by $16 trillion over the next 10 years. Gaslighting nearly $50 trillion in debt to America is something my conscience cannot abide at this time.”
Although the opposing Republicans voted along Democratic lines, several Democratic lawmakers have argued that Wednesday’s bill is actually too “extreme” of a cut to federal spending, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“These measures, and they’re truly extreme, have no place in a debate about avoiding default,” Schumer said during his speech on the Senate floor Wednesday. “I urge Speaker McCarthy to stop wasting any more time on this DOA, dead on arrival, bill.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also called the measure the “Extreme MAGA Republican Default on America Act” while speaking on the House floor.
“This reckless Republican effort to lead us down the road of a dangerous default will hurt … the least, the lost, and the left behind,” Jeffries said, according to a clip of the speech that was shared to his Twitter account. “The Extreme MAGA Republican Default on America Act will hurt everyday Americans. Why? Because you want to jam your reckless, extreme ideology down the throats of the American people.”
Newsweek has contacted McCarthy’s communications team via email for comment.
