Kevin McCarthy’s big test: keeping Republicans unified in debt limit fight

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has a tendency to compare himself to American baseball legend Babe Ruth. In a speech at the New York Stock Exchange last month, he quoted the sports hero: “You can’t beat a man who never gives up.”

McCarthy, 58, made history in January when he won 15 rounds of balloting in a tortuous week of wrangling with his Republican allies to choose the president.

Many thought that he would not last more than a few weeks. Nearly six months later, however, the congressman from Bakersfield, Calif., surprised his doubters by not only holding the speaker’s gavel but uniting the often fractious Republican convention.

In a bizarre show of support earlier this week, House Republicans held a fundraising auction for McCarthy’s used cherry lip balm, with controversial Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene making the winning bid of $100,000.

“Kevin McCarthy has over-performed,” said Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman from Florida. “He came into this fight as a big underdog who barely got elected Speaker. He has managed to keep his conference not only united but also very dominant.

Now he faces his toughest challenge yet as he seeks to broker a deal with President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling — and without imposing the wishes of the right wing of his party before the June 1 deadline. Get any agreement through Congress.

If he fails, McCarthy could go down in history as the president who wreaked economic havoc by driving the government into its first default.

“[McCarthy]couldn’t exceed expectations. But that’s because they were too low,” said Doug Hay, a former aide to Eric Cantor who was Republican majority leader in the House during the last major debt ceiling impasse in 2011.

The “(Republican) convention is unified behind him at this point, or as unified as it can be,” Hay said. “He’s in a position where we can get a deal done, and if that happens, he deserves a lot of credit.”

McCarthy scored a legislative victory last month when he brokered a deal among House Republicans to pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act – a bill that would raise the debt ceiling next year, drastically cut federal spending and many of Biden’s Will return the signature. policies.

The bill was dead when it arrived in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But it was the catalyst for tense talks with the White House that consumed Washington and put financial markets on pins and needles over whether the two sides would be able to strike a deal and avert a default.

“The Democrats never expected (McCarthy) to pass a bill. . . I never expected them to pass a bill,” said Mick Mulvaney, the former Republican congressman who served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. staff.” But he was able to do it, and it completely changed the dynamic, and I think it set the White House off.”

The president is now walking a political tightrope as he seeks to strike a deal with Biden without alienating too many members of his own party. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing Republicans, have repeatedly said they would not support any agreement, and Congressman Chip Roy of Texas on Wednesday urged fellow Republicans to “hold the line” against Biden and the Democrats. encouraged.

At the same time, many Democrats have also called on Biden to walk away from the negotiating table, and have called on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution to unilaterally defy the debt cap.

Any deal on the debt ceiling would need to be passed by a majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which Republicans control by a narrow margin, before moving to the Senate. Some congressional aides are already doubting whether a bill can pass both chambers of Congress by the end of the month, reviving the possibility of a short-lived extension to the deadline.

Even if a deal wins bipartisan support, McCarthy may not anger too many members of his own convention — in large part because in exchange for being elected president in January, he will allow rule changes. Granted, meaning that any member of the House can call “vacate the chair”, or call for a motion of no confidence in their leadership.

Most right-wing House Republicans have made no secret of their desire to weaponize that change. Florida’s Republican lawmaker Matt Gaetz told the news website Semaphore on Tuesday, “I believe this one-man vacation proposal has given us the best version of Speaker McCarthy and I think he’s doing a good job.” “

While the White House continues to push for talks with Republicans, Biden administration officials and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been frustrated that Republicans have rejected their proposals, which include a cap on discretionary spending for next year. Stop is also included.

“It is increasingly clear to me that House Republicans intend to crash the economy and default on our debt. This is wrong. It will hurt everyday Americans, and it is time to end the crackdown,” House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

But McCarthy insists he will make a deal – and hold on to the speakership.

“I’m not going to give up,” McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. “We’re not going to default. We’re going to solve this problem. I’m going to stick with it until we get it done.”