Hard-line Republican lawmakers threatened to exact revenge for a deal between the White House and GOP congressional leaders to avert a catastrophic US debt default, with one conservative saying he plans to force a vote on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.
Representative Dan Bishop of North Carolina said McCarthy “capitulated” to Democrats and he plans to trigger the formal process to remove the speaker. The “motion to vacate has to be done,” he told reporters.
He declined to answer questions on whether he would seek to mount his challenge before Wednesday’s scheduled debt-limit vote, leaving unclear whether it would upend the House’s plan to act on the deal. “Every course of action is available,” he said.
McCarthy dismissed that threat and told reporters Tuesday he is confident his job is secure. Supporting the debt limit deal is “an easy vote for Republicans,” he said.
Treasury yields remained lower as traders stay hopeful that Congress will pass a deal. The S&P 500 stock index fluctuated.
The debt-limit agreement struck by McCarthy and President Joe Biden is in a crucial final stretch with less than a week to win congressional approval before a June 5 default deadline. Biden and McCarthy have both expressed confidence the measure will pass and spent much of the Memorial Day holiday lobbying members of their respective parties.
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Former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday joined 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley in opposing the debt-limit deal. Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican nomination fight, hasn’t commented on the deal since it was announced.
The agreement has also angered Democrats’ left flank, with Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal saying Tuesday that most members of her group don’t support spending cuts, energy permitting language and expanded work requirements in the bill.
But the caucus, which numbers about 100 Democrats, hasn’t yet decided whether it’ll take an official stand, Jayapal said.
Progressive Democrats generally haven’t been as quick to condemn Biden or other party leaders as the far right.
McCarthy gained his post only after forging a tenuous alliance with Republican hard-liners and an extraordinary 15 rounds of voting.
Threats by even a small band of conservatives carry weight. With Republicans controlling the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, he could be ousted if only a few Republicans back his removal, unless he relies on support from at least some Democrats.
Any House member can force a vote on removing the speaker, which requires a simple majority of the House. Traditionally members of the opposition party have not voted in favor of the speaker, though some moderate Democrats already have committed to support McCarthy in such a situation.
Even if Democrats were to rescue McCarthy from removal, a loss of support among Republicans would be an embarrassing no-confidence vote. Former Republican Speaker John Boehner chose to resign in 2015, despite Democratic offers of assistance, when he faced a revolt among conservatives.
On Tuesday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said it’s “premature” to discuss whether Democrats would support McCarthy on any motion to remove him.
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Hard-line conservatives oppose the debt-limit deal but most have stopped short of calling for McCarthy’s job, though at least one other conservative hinted at retaliation during a press conference at the Capitol by the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. The group is demanding deeper cuts in federal spending.
“No matter what happens, there is going to be a reckoning,” Representative Chip Roy of Texas said Tuesday, adding that House Republicans have been “torn asunder” by the agreement.
“McCarthy has lost some trust,” said Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, chairman of the group, sidestepped a question on whether he or others would seek to remove McCarthy from the speaker’s post.
“I am focused on defeating this bill,” Perry responded, adding the debt deal “fails to deliver.”
Bishop said conservative dissidents will decide the best time to act against McCarthy. No other Republican lawmakers have explicitly called for his removal in public remarks.
The bill sets the course for federal spending through 2025 and will suspend the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025 — likely putting off another fight over federal borrowing authority until the middle of that year. In exchange for Republican votes for the suspension, Democrats agreed to cap federal spending for the next two years.
The White House interpretation of the caps has it telling lawmakers the deal would lower spending by about $1 trillion over a decade, while the GOP argues the spending cut is double that.
The first test for the debt-limit deal comes Tuesday afternoon at the House Rules Committee, which controls floor debate. The 13-member panel includes four Democrats and three far-right Republicans who are often critical of McCarthy.
Roy is on the Rules Committee and tweeted Monday that McCarthy had promised while running for speaker that nothing would pass muster in the panel without at least seven GOP votes. Norman is also on the committee and already opposes the bill — so they need just one more defector.
Across the full House, there are at least 10 GOP “no” votes. Representative Tom Emmer, the Republicans’ chief vote counter, worked the phones over the weekend to prevent that number from swelling much beyond that. His efforts will shift Tuesday to more direct attempts at persuasion as lawmakers return to the Capitol.
Jeffries and his top vote counter, Representative Katherine Clark, are also trying to pin down Democratic votes.
Complicating the Democratic leaders’ efforts is opposition from key progressive constituencies.
The Sierra Club, one of the nation’s best-known environmental groups, on Monday urged lawmakers to block the deal. The organization cited provisions that would expedite approvals for a natural gas pipeline running across West Virginia and time limits it would impose on environmental reviews of energy projects.
--With assistance from Jarrell Dillard.
(Updates with new detail starting in second paragraph)
