Kevin McCarthy Proposes 1-Year Debt Limit Extension

(ReliableNews.org) – A major fight is brewing between Republicans in Congress and the White House. Soon, the government is going to have to raise the debt limit to meet its financial obligations. The GOP wants major cost-cutting concessions in return, but President Joe Biden’s administration is not on board. Now, the speaker of the House has a suggestion.

On Monday, April 17, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spoke about the debt ceiling while at the New York Stock Exchange. He said the House will vote to “lift the debt ceiling into next year.” However, he told the audience that it wasn’t going to come without a cost. He claimed the bill was going to “save taxpayers trillions of dollars,” curb inflation which is already dropping, make the country “less dependent on China,” and do it all without touching entitlements like Medicare or Social Security.

Here's the plan:

The House will vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into next year, save taxpayers trillions of dollars, make us less dependent on China, and curb high inflation—all without touching Social Security or Medicare. pic.twitter.com/yCE9WvFb0R

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 17, 2023

The debt ceiling is the amount of money the government can borrow to pay for the spending Congress has already authorized. In other words, it’s like using your credit cards to pay the utilities and debt you accumulated the month before. Once the Treasury hits the debt ceiling limit, it has to find other ways to pay the US government’s obligations. If they are unable to do that, it would be a financial catastrophe. The debt ceiling has been raised 78 times since 1960, 28 of those times were under Democratic presidents, and 49 times were under Republicans.

Biden wants Republicans to agree to a clean debt ceiling bill. He doesn’t want it to contain anything else. Currently, the Treasury Department is expected to hit the spending limit this summer. Whether or not McCarthy can keep his caucus on the same page when it comes to this will be the first big test of his leadership.

If McCarthy’s proposal passes, it’s highly unlikely it will make it through the Senate or be signed by Biden.