Speaker Kevin McCarthy told House Republicans to ignore what was in his debt limit bill and vote for it anyway because it would never become law.
The whole purpose of this is to compel the president to negotiate and to demonstrate to Washington, D.C., that Kevin McCarthy has the votes to raise the debt limit and that we have shared priorities among all aspects of the Republican conference,” said Representative French Hill of Arkansas, a McCarthy ally.
Still, if anything, the process of pushing through the measure highlighted the deep divisions among Republicans on fiscal matters. Beseeching his colleagues privately to back the bill, Mr. McCarthy repeatedly told them to ignore the substance of the measure, which would never become law, and instead focus on the symbolic victory of passing any legislation to show Mr. Biden they were serious about their demand for spending cuts.
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The bill is nothing. Kevin McCarthy’s debt limit bill will never see the light of day, and McCarthy knew that it would never become and conned enough of his caucus into voting because he thinks that voters will forget it by the time next November rolls around.
Speaker McCarthy set up the moderates in his caucus who represent districts that President Biden won to lose their seats next year so that he could have a symbolic victory. The problem with McCarthy’s thinking is that Democrats aren’t going to let the voters forget what McCarthy got them to vote for. Kevin McCarthy couldn’t get all of the votes of his caucus. It was not a unified vote, so there is no reason for Democrats to ever negotiate with him because it has now been proven that he can’t hold his own side together.
Kevin McCarthy’s symbolic win may turn into Democratic control of the House on Election Day 2024.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
