As House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy declared Wednesday that Americans should thank every Republican for passing the debt limit bill, it was clear that the GOP was taking a victory lap.
This is great news and the bill is packed full of savings for taxpayers, including a cut to Biden student bailouts. The only problem, the ball is in Biden’s court now. The silver lining is an agreement has to be met before June so Biden may have no choice but to suck up his losses.
Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity, McCarthy said, “You should thank every Republican who voted for this bill because they went out and fought hard.” He went on to explain that the bill would help the economy by limiting government growth, saving money, and creating jobs.
McCarthy’s enthusiasm for the bill was shared by many Republicans, but not all. Four Republicans voted against the bill, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who explained his “no” vote in a tweet and linked statement. Hannity asked McCarthy if House Republicans could hold the line if Democrats attempted to pare back the savings in the bill, to which McCarthy responded, “I need everybody to stand firm with us, even those four who voted against it.”
The bill passed by a slim margin, 217-215, and is set to cut back on a number of Biden administration initiatives. McCarthy said the bill “capped the growth at 1% each year for the next ten. We save money by being smart. What we do is that money, billions of dollars sitting out there that COVID never spent, just sitting there, we claw that back so the American taxpayer can save the money.”
He went on to explain that the bill would also “cut the red tape so we can build things again in America” and “cut 87,000 IRS agents so government is here to help you.”
“HR 1 lowering our energy costs,” McCarthy said. “We lower the energy cost for all Americans but we also create more jobs.”
McCarthy said that the bill was an example of Republicans doing exactly what they told the American people they would do. With the passage of this bill, it looks like the GOP is delivering on that promise.