Congress has sent legislation to raise the debt ceiling to President Biden, ending a months-long saga that took the United States days away from a possible default.
The legislation was the product of months of maneuvering between Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), culminating in furious negotiations and an aggressive effort by leaders from both parties to sell the deal to their caucuses, which included a number of reluctant legislators. .
Here are some of the fight’s biggest winners and losers.
WINNERS
Speaker Kevin McCarthy
There’s no doubt that McCarthy has emerged as the big winner of the fight, even if he’s also had to take some criticism from his right wing.
McCarthy pushed through a major bipartisan deal in Congress and proved wrong his critics who doubted his ability to get a GOP-backed bill to raise the debt ceiling in the House.
This early victory gave the president leverage in subsequent talks, and was the first major sign that the White House and Democrats had underestimated McCarthy after his difficult election as president.
McCarthy won big Wednesday when 149 members, more than two-thirds of his conference, backed the bill — a show of support for his leader and some rebuke to conservatives who had criticized him.
He will face challenges in the future, but this was a major political victory in McCarthy’s young Speakership.
Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Patrick McHenry (RN.C.)
Graves and McHenry, the Republicans appointed by McCarthy to fix the debt deal, saw his star power grow during negotiations with the White House.
It was the second time this year that McCarthy asked the duo to help him after the pair helped him ascend to the presidency in January.
After several unsuccessful meetings with Biden, McCarthy called on Graves and McHenry, an “evil politician” and chairman of the Financial Services Committee, to represent Republicans in negotiations with the White House.
Both delivered, breaking the political deadlock and agreeing to a deal that won a large majority in the House and the GOP conference.
In the process, Graves and McHenry’s work will fuel conversation about their own political futures, including whether they can be House GOP leader or president.
President Biden
Biden had to reverse his position that he would not negotiate on the debt ceiling. And he was forced to give in to GOP demands for lower domestic discretionary spending and new work requirements for food stamps, infuriating liberals.
However, Biden also emerged as the winner of the negotiations by getting the House GOP to agree to raise the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, preempting any future showdown beyond the House elections. next year
In the end, Biden didn’t have to make big concessions. Even on the food stamp issue, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the government could spend more money on nutrition assistance under the deal because of provisions negotiated to increase access of veterans, the homeless and other vulnerable groups.
Biden received some criticism from the left, but a large majority of the House Democratic caucus voted in favor of the legislation.
In next year’s campaign, Biden will surely use the negotiations to make the case that he is a political leader capable of working with Republicans and winning bipartisan deals.
Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.)
Manchin has been pushing federal regulators for years to approve the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile natural gas project that cuts through the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.
The debt ceiling deal provides expedited permits to resume final construction of the pipeline.
The provision is a big win for Manchin, who faces what appears to be the toughest re-election contest of his Senate term next year, when he faces a popular and wealthy GOP governor in Jim Justice.
The deal also includes authorizing reforms designed to expedite other energy infrastructure projects across the country, provisions that Manchin may also target next year.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
From the beginning, McConnell said that he it would take a back seat in the negotiations to raise the debt limit, insisting it was a matter to be resolved between the House and the White House.
Many did not believe it. But in the end, he got exactly what he wanted.
The Senate GOP leader stayed out of months of debate over the debt limit, despite the White House trying to pull the Kentucky Republican in the negotiations and the Democrats hoping he would get in and getting a debt limit deal with Biden, as the pair did in 2011.
“It was clear from the beginning that preserving the full faith and credit of the United States would come down to an agreement that could pass the House of the People and win the president’s signature,” McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday. “In other words, direct negotiations between President McCarthy and President Biden. As I have said for months.”
LOSERS
The House Freedom Caucus
Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus didn’t like the final bill, but they couldn’t stop it.
And in the end, the vote wasn’t even close.
“I’m trying to figure out exactly what conservatives should be happy about,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a member of the group, said this week.
The bill doesn’t cut spending as much as they wanted, suspends the debt ceiling for nearly a year longer than conservatives had hoped, and excludes a long list of policy provisions favored by the GOP, including the repeal of green energy tax credits and an immediate end to Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.
The bill also empowered McCarthy, who has to deal with threats to his continued right-wing presidency, but was able to signal his control over his conference with this week’s vote.
progressives
Liberals also remained divided over the nature of the compromise, which included a long list of policies they oppose and led 46 of them in the House to vote against the legislation when it came into session on Wednesday . Five Senate Liberals also opposed the measure.
Progressives had urged Biden to hold the line on his demand for a “clean” increase in the debt ceiling, only to see the president come to the table and negotiate a series of cuts and policy changes.
They had opposed any new work requirements for welfare programs, only to see Democratic leaders agree to new eligibility limits for low-income food assistance.
They have howled at the idea of easing environmental reviews of energy infrastructure projects, which was included in the package.
And they had urged the president to demand tax hikes, not just spending cuts, as a deficit-reduction strategy, another item excluded from the final deal.
“This farce has shown that we must once and for all reform the debt limit so that never again can the working and poor people of this country be held hostage,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash. ), head of the Congress. Progressive Caucus.
