US House Speaker McCarthy praises debt deal, conservatives divided | World News

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday praised the debt ceiling deal he negotiated with Democratic President Joe Biden, but a prominent House conservative warned that McCarthy has a “credibility problem” that could prompt some Republicans to seek his removal His status as the leader of the Republican Party in Congress.

Read it here: U.S. Senate approves debt deal to avoid default, Joe Biden says ‘big win’

Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said the deal fell short of the deeper spending cuts McCarthy promised his party when he ran for speaker in January.

The debt-ceiling deal keeps spending in fiscal 2024 flat at this year’s level, allowing for a 1% increase in fiscal 2025. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the deal will cut the deficit by about $1.5 trillion over a decade from the current legal baseline forecast.

House Republicans passed a bill in late April that would cut the deficit by $4.8 trillion over 10 years in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, prompting Biden to enter negotiations, and the deal was approved by the Senate on Thursday.

Asked whether the Freedom Caucus would seek to vote to remove McCarthy in response to the deal, Barker told CNN’s State of the Union: “I don’t know if the motion to remove is going to happen immediately. I do know that Speaker McCarthy has Credibility issues.”

In an effort to win the Speaker’s seat in a tight election process in January, McCarthy agreed to a rule change that would allow only one member to force a vote to remove him, leaving him vulnerable to hardline Republican conservatives.

Other Republicans were quick to defend McCarthy, a day after Biden signed into law legislation suspending the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, averting a catastrophic U.S. payment default expected on Monday.

Read it here: U.S. House passes bill to avert debt default: Senate next to tackle legislation

“Speaker McCarthy’s position is absolutely safe,” Rep. Garrett Graves, a Louisiana Republican who helped negotiate the debt-ceiling deal, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

McCarthy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that the deal marks a rare reduction in nondefense discretionary spending, prevents the hiring of more IRS agents next year and increases spending on defense and veterans. funding.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s the beginning of a turnaround,” he said. “Now we have to do the rest.”

Barker said McCarthy’s commitment to Republicans that he would cut spending levels to fiscal 2022 levels rather than the higher 2023 levels agreed in the deal made the deal a loss for the party.

The deal was approved by 149 House Republicans, the party’s majority, and 165 Democrats. Forty-six Democrats, mostly progressives, have spoken out against the deal, saying it imposes strict work requirements on poor families receiving food assistance or monetary assistance and others facing barriers to employment.

Senator Mike Lee, a conservative Republican from Utah, also criticized the deal, saying it could add $4 trillion to the U.S. debt by early 2025, telling Fox News that Republicans and Democrats were conspiring to “pay for as many people as possible.” “Everything is funded” without saving. “

Read it here: Debt Limit Deal Explained: How It Will Affect the U.S. Economy, Polls, and People

Barker said much will depend on McCarthy’s actions in future spending talks and whether he needs to rely on Democratic votes to pass legislation, as he did on the debt ceiling.