1 year ago
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We begin today Hayes Brown of MSNBC writing about the good, the bad, and the ugly of yesterday’s passage of the Fiscal Accountability Bill by the House of Representatives by a vote of 314-117.
First, the deal raises the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025. That’s almost a full year later than Republicans initially wanted, punting the issue until after the next presidential election. Its budget provisions also get us through the next two fiscal years, which means the odds for a potential government shutdown have shrunk significantly. And, importantly, no matter what happens in 2024, the debt limit revision expires when Democrats will still control the Senate and White House. [...]
There’s also still an appropriations battle to go through this year to actually fund the government based on the budget agreements in the deal. There’s also a fun little sequestration provision tucked into the bill, where if a continuing resolution is in place next January then there are automatic 1% cuts to both defense and nondefense spending that will snap into place. That’s something to keep an eye on.
So is the potential political fallout for McCarthy that comes from cutting this deal. Previous GOP speakers haven’t fared well after “caving” to Democratic demands, which is the way members of the House Freedom Caucus are characterizing what McCarthy has done. Murmurs of toppling McCarthy have tamped down in the last few days after some initial grumbling. But the right-wing of the Republican caucus won’t let McCarthy forget how few of their demands were met.
