WASHINGTON — A key centrist McCarthy House Republican is ruling out a fallback. Option to avoid a catastrophic debt default, which would have required a handful of GOP. lawmakers to bypass Speaker Kevin McCarthy and work with Democrats. On a legislative solution.
p. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said Monday evening that using a procedural tool known as a discharge.
Petition to force a House vote on a “clean” debt limit increase was dead on arrival. The mechanism requires 218 signatories — in the current House. Meaning at least six Republicans and all Democrats. —To secure a vote on a bill, even if the speaker doesn’t want to bring it up.
“it’s DOA,” Bacon told reporters at the Capitol. “Because the president has to make some compromises with the Republicans. For him to say my way or the highway – no way.”
Bacon is one of the most centrist Republicans in the House. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is a moderate. Democrat with a knack for pushing his party, and he represents an. Omaha-based district that President Joe Biden won. 2020
Bacon has been a vocal critic of his party’s far right. Which is threatening to end support for raising. The debt limit unless Biden agrees to concessions on conservative policies. He had earlier opened the door to a discharge petition as a fallback, but is now closing it. If Bacon isn’t on board, it’s doubtful any Republican will be.
On Monday, Bacon dialed back his criticism of Democrats. Who say paying the nation’s bills is non-negotiable. And that discussions of fiscal policy should be separated from the debt limit. “They are a bankrupt party,” he said. “They want bankruptcy.”
“We’re not here to rubber-stamp this cost,” he added.
Bacon’s position is music to. The ears of ultraconservatives like Rep. Bob Goode, R-Va., a McCarthy critic, R-Calif.
“Glad to hear,” Goode said Monday night. “I didn’t hear it, but I’m glad to hear what he said.”
Goode praised McCarthy’s comments earlier in the day. Claiming that Biden agreed to “sit down and negotiate.” And “commit to finding common ground on raising. The liability debt limit” and “moving toward a balanced budget.” McCarthy did not propose any specific spending cuts in his speech.
Ultraconservative Rep. R-S.C. That said, Republicans are crafting a specific spending. -Cut plan that could get 218 votes and land within the next few weeks.
“We’re going to be specific. We’re working through it.
218 votes are required,” he said. “It will be in the paper.”
In recent weeks, amid congressional deadlock over a way forward. Congressional insiders and Wall Street analysts have floated. The idea of a discharge petition as a fail-safe mechanism that could ensure the U.S. does not default on its debt. The Treasury Department has set a June 5 deadline. For Congress or risk breaching the debt ceiling.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates accused Republicans on Monday. Of “trying to throw our economy into a tailspin with a default. — Something they have a non-negotiable, constitutional duty to prevent.”
For now, at least, Democrats say they have no plans to start a discharge. Petition to lift the debt limit, arguing it’s up to the House majority to come up with a solution.
“I’ve always emphasized how difficult it is to repeal a discharge petition.” Said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. “There’s a reason it’s only happened once in the last 10 years. So it should not be in the plan.”
