Gaetz: Debt limit deal won’t harm McCarthy.

Republican Representatives Downplay Threat to McCarthy’s Speakership Amid Debt Ceiling Negotiations

As negotiators zero in on the details of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, some Republican representatives are downplaying the idea that cutting a bipartisan deal will endanger the position of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Don’t believe the hype! Despite ongoing negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, McCarthy’s position as Speaker of the House is not in danger. While some Republican representatives have expressed concerns, others have voiced their support for McCarthy’s leadership.

McCarthy was elected speaker in January after a record 15 ballots. Because Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, a small group of conservative members were able to hold up McCarthy’s election until granted a number of demands.

Among those concessions was a rule change allowing any one member to introduce a motion to “vacate the chair,” potentially ending McCarthy’s leadership role.

As details of a possible bipartisan agreement on raising the debt limit were leaked on May 25, members of the House Freedom Caucus urged McCarthy to stand firm on the details of the GOP debt limit and spending plan, the Limit, Save, Grow Act. The group hinted at potential consequences if the speaker is not firm enough in negotiations.

“As you navigate the debt limit debate, you are the steward of this unity and will determine whether it continues to strengthen and places a historic stamp on this Congress or evaporates,” they wrote.

Despite these concerns, some Republican representatives have expressed confidence in McCarthy’s leadership. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has negated the idea that reaching a compromise agreement with Democrats might endanger McCarthy’s leadership role.

“I think that it [a potential bipartisan agreement] will pass with about 80 to 100 Democrat votes and between 140 and 160 Republican votes,” Gaetz said during a May 26 livestream on Twitter Spaces.

“I think the coalition opposed to this will be, like, the Squad and the Freedom Caucus, and it will rocket through the Senate after it passes the House. And I think that there is no serious threat to McCarthy’s speakership.”

Other Republican representatives, such as Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), have also expressed their support for McCarthy’s leadership.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), both members of the House Freedom Caucus, declined to say that a bipartisan deal would end McCarthy’s speakership. However, neither refused to rule out the possibility.

“That’s a different calculation altogether,” Donalds said. “We’re talking about the debt ceiling.”

Working Against the Clock

Surrogates for Biden and McCarthy have been negotiating intensely since May 9 and appear to have made progress.

According to Roy, details of a potential deal include raising the debt ceiling between $3.5 trillion and $4 trillion, much more than the $1.5 trillion proposed in the Limit, Save, Grow Act, and significantly reducing other included fiscal reforms.

Many Democrats have taken a hard line on the other side, urging the president to invoke the 14th Amendment to continue paying the nation’s bills.

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