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With just one more day to corral Republican support on a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/26/debt-ceiling-explained/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">debt ceiling</a> agreement, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) faced growing opposition from far-right members of his party but remained confident as the bipartisan bill passed a key procedural hurdle late Tuesday and headed to the House floor.

Roughly a dozen members of the House Freedom Caucus took turns in a Capitol Hill news conference slamming McCarthy and the deal he brokered with President Biden over the weekend. And by the end of the day, roughly 30 GOP lawmakers had vowed to vote against the bill, which must clear the Senate and become law before Monday — the day the government would default on its debt without an extended borrowing cap.

“This is a career-defining vote for every Republican,” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) said at the news conference. “Many more need to emerge [in opposition] if there is any path to salvaging what we began as a unified conference. … We’re prepared to stand up and take the slings and the arrows.”

Still, McCarthy played down criticism that he had failed to lock in enough spending cuts in the deal. And before the legislation was approved by the Rules Committee, he held on to his optimism that it would move through the panel — a key procedural step before Wednesday’s full House vote and typically the first stop before legislation can go before the full House. Throughout the day, influential GOP members streamed in and out of McCarthy’s office as the speaker fought to keep his conference together.

“It’s the most conservative deal we ever had,” McCarthy told reporters.

McCarthy also waved off rumblings that far-right members of his conference would move to vacate him as speaker. On Tuesday, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) did not rule out that option and said he had “concerns” about McCarthy, who won the speakership in January <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/06/house-speaker-vote-live-coverage-kevin-mccarthy/" target=_blank>after 15 rounds of voting</a> and multiple concessions.

“I do think that there has to be some kind of acknowledgment that this has not been best for the country, not been best for the Republicans, not been best for our body,” Biggs said. During the Freedom Caucus news conference, Bishop alone raised his hand when lawmakers were asked if they supported a motion to vacate.

As the House Rules Committee convened Tuesday afternoon, most speakers acknowledged that the deal left both Democrats and Republicans unsatisfied. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) said he had yet to meet a single person who loved it.

“Perhaps that is a sign that it is a fair compromise between a narrowly Republican House and a narrowly Democratic Senate — and, of course, a Democratic White House,” he said.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, much attention was fixed on a handful of far-right Republicans on the Rules Committee who could have thwarted the bill’s future. Two of the panel’s nine GOP members — Reps. Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Chip Roy (Tex.) — had already come out against the deal and McCarthy’s leadership.

“The Republican conference has been torn asunder,” Roy said at the Freedom Caucus news conference.

But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian-minded conservative who sometimes sides with the Freedom Caucus, indicated he would vote to move the bill forward. His support helped the panel adopt the rule by a vote of 7-6. The bill will now head to the full House for a vote on Wednesday.

“It’s not our job to imprint an ideology,” Massie said during the committee meeting. “I think our job is to decide: Is this a process we’ve all agreed on?”

On Tuesday night, Republicans on the whip team were seen holding a narrow piece of paper with names in one hand and a pen in other, as they spent a roughly hour-long vote touching base with several colleagues in the larger Republican conference who remained undecided.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told reporters Tuesday that she opposed the bill because “it doesn’t cut spending in the way that we should.” But she said any talk of whether McCarthy should hold on to the speaker’s gavel was “premature,” echoing other GOP lawmakers who say their focus is on the current debt ceiling bill.

Meanwhile, Democrats risked losing members of their own conference. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, the leader of the House Progressive Caucus, said Tuesday that the group was still talking to its members to see where they stand so officials can decide whether they will endorse the deal as a group.

Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, a member of the Progressive Caucus, said she was leaning against the bill.

“As somebody who was a food stamp recipient, there is absolutely no way I can see myself greenlighting something that will take food from people’s mouths,” Bush said.

Across the Capitol, Senate leaders braced for what could turn into a long week or weekend, awaiting the House action and then maneuvering through their complex parliamentary procedures to finish up by Monday. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said there may be a weekend vote to get the legislation passed in time.

During the Senate Republican leadership meeting, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spoke positively of the deal and encouraged members to support it, according to an attendee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal conversations. The attendee added that there was some concern among other senators about defense spending and questions about a provision related to continuing resolutions.

US President Joe Biden Debt Ceiling meeting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/31/whats-in-debt-ceiling-deal/" target="_blank">What’s in the deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund the government for the next two years.</a>

Other Senate leaders expressed their support for the legislation, despite opposition from the far right and left flanks of their caucuses, expecting to build a centrist coalition.

“We’re sorting through all of, but I’m glad Speaker McCarthy made some headway,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

The deal struck by Biden and McCarthy would raise the debt ceiling for two years — beyond the 2024 elections — allowing the government to pay its bills. In a concession to Republicans, the bill would limit domestic spending for two years and impose some new work requirements for certain individuals receiving food stamps and those in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

The bill would fast-track a new natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia, a key goal of Republicans and a plan championed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.).

“I think Speaker McCarthy did a great job,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said, expressing her support for the West Virginia energy project included in the bill. “These are wins.”

It also would pare back roughly $20 billion of the $80 billion approved last year for an expansion of the IRS, another concession to Republicans. And the bill would allow an increase in spending for defense, similar to what Biden requested in his budget March 9, as well as veterans affairs.

House lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill after an eventful holiday weekend in Washington. For days, debt ceiling negotiators from the GOP and White House <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/24/debt-ceiling-gop-demands/" target="_blank">clashed,</a> and then compromised, until the eventual release of the <a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20230529/BILLS-118hrPIH-fiscalresponsibility.pdf" target="_blank">99-page bill Sunday evening.</a> By that point, Republican and Democratic leaders were already in the thick of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/28/debt-ceiling/" target="_blank">whipping support </a>from their rank-and-file, holding conference calls and circulating talking points to tout their respective wins.

As written, nearly all of the savings from the bill — about $1.3 trillion — are projected to come from cuts and caps on domestic agencies and programs. But that estimate hinges on Congress and side deals that already appear to limit some of those savings, especially on non-defense discretionary spending. The bill also only covers the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, after which the limits on federal spending are not enforceable.

In a surprise, the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates also showed that although changes to the food stamp program would increase direct spending by $2.1 billion over 10 years, an additional 78,000 people would gain benefits in an average month. The bill adds work requirements for some but also expands benefits for other groups, including veterans and homeless people.

Asked whether he was confident that the debt ceiling deal would pass Congress, Biden on Monday replied, “I feel very good about it.” He said he had spoken with a number of lawmakers, including McConnell.

It’s a restriction Congress has put on how much money the federal government can borrow to pay its bills, which has been in place since 1917. Because the government usually spends more than it takes in, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/26/debt-ceiling-explained/" target="_blank">Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling fairly frequently to pay for its operations</a> (sort of like a credit card bill).

If Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling, the government can’t borrow and might not be able to pay its bills (like bond interest) on time. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/07/why-debt-ceiling-breach-would-not-be-first-us-default/" target="_blank">That’s called a default</a>, and it’s never happened before on this scale (though <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-passes-debt-limit-bill/2011/08/02/gIQAIp2kpI_story.html" target="_blank">the U.S. got close in 2011</a>). It would probably tip the U.S. into a recession and shake the global economy.

Why does the U.S. keep raising the debt limit?

Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling so the U.S. can keep issuing bonds, which investors around the world buy because they’re seen as a safe and reliable investment. In turn, the government can fund projects from the military to social programs.

Why is raising the debt limit a fight?

Until recently, it was routine for Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Since 1960, Congress has intervened 78 times to change it in some way. But it has become a political battle <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/26/debt-ceiling-explained/" target="_blank">because it is one of the few must-pass bills</a>, so lately Republicans have seen it as an opportunity to make demands.

As they worked the phones, party leadership urged their colleagues to move fast enough to assure passage by this coming Monday. In a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, the Biden administration urged Congress to pass the bill “as soon as possible to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”

“I want to be clear: This agreement represents a compromise, which means no one gets everything that they want. And hard choices had to be made. Negotiations require a give and take. That’s the responsibility of governing,” said Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget and one of the White House’s key negotiators on the debt ceiling deal.

“When you enter into good faith negotiations, you don’t negotiate to see a bill posted. You negotiate to make sure it gets to the president’s desk and will fulfill our part when it gets to the president’s desk.”

To avoid a disastrous default, McCarthy would need the support of a “majority of the majority,” or at least half of the 222 Republicans in the House, even to bring the bill to the floor. He could lose up to 111 of his own party members but then would need up to 107 Democratic votes.

A handful of House Republicans, including Reps. Kat Cammack (Fla.) and Wesley Hunt (Tex.), said Tuesday that they oppose the bill, underscoring the challenge McCarthy faces to round up the necessary votes even within his own party. The Republican Study Committee, which is the largest ideological faction of House Republicans, will not formally take a position on the debt compromise nor whip support for or against the bill, a sign that a majority of the 170 lawmakers could vote either way on it.

“Our expectation is that House Republicans will keep their promise and deliver at least 150 votes, as it relates to an agreement that they themselves negotiated with the White House,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday.

Marianne LeVine and Camila DeChalus contributed to this report.

Billy Tucker

Yale University, BA in History

Rachel Siegel is an economics reporter covering the Federal Reserve. She previously covered breaking news for the Post's financial section and local politics for the Post's Metro desk. Before joining the Post in June 2017, Rachel contributed to The Marshall Project and The Dallas Morning News.

Rachel Siegel

George Washington University, BA in political communications

George Washington University, MA in strategic communications

Marianna Sotomayor covers the House of Representatives for The Washington Post. Sotomayor joined The Post in 2021 from NBC News.

Marianna Sotomayor

Yale University, BA in psychology

Columbia University, MS in journalism

Amy B Wang is a national politics reporter. She joined The Washington Post in 2016 after seven years with the Arizona Republic.

Amy B Wang

Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress

University of Delaware, BA

Paul Kane is The Washington Post's senior congressional correspondent and columnist. His column about Congress, @PKCapitol, appears throughout the week and on Sundays. He joined The Post in 2007. 

Paul Kane

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Debt ceiling deal faces first hurdle in Republican-led House

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The Washington Post

Ricky Carioti

Balance of Power Pair

U.S. House Aggregate

U.S. Senate Aggregate

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