What House Republicans are considering for their go-it-alone debt limit bill

The details of House Republicans’ debt limit increase bill were in flux on Tuesday as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP leaders worked to get enough votes in a slim majority to pass it.

GOP leaders have set their sights on voting on the forthcoming legislation as early as next week, as the party tries to increase pressure on the White House to negotiate spending cuts and policy reforms as a condition of raising the debt ceiling. 

A framework for the legislation presented to Republicans on Tuesday outlined some aspects of the package, tracking with McCarthy’s public description of it in a New York Stock Exchange speech on Monday. But Republicans across the board say plenty is still up for discussion. 

Here are some ideas that could make the cut.

Returning to budget caps

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during an event at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

In his speech forecasting the coming proposal earlier this week, McCarthy reiterated a plan to cap fiscal 2024 nondefense discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels. The plan also would involve capping spending growth annually at 1 percent over the next decade.

Defending the caps in his address to Wall Street on Monday, McCarthy pointed to previous spending caps secured as part of the debt limit compromise struck in 2011 between the Obama administration and a GOP-led House, calling the spending limits “largely successful.”

“Discretionary spending flatlined and overall spending growth slowed dramatically. Our legislation accomplishes the same goal,” he argued. However, there is disagreement among some Republicans about how effective the previous caps proved in curbing spending. 

Some hard-line conservatives think that the debt bill should go further, with Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) suggesting reverting to fiscal 2019 levels.

“It’s reasonable now that the emergency is over for us to go back to pre-COVID spending,” Good said.

Democrats and agency heads have raised concerns about what the proposed restrictions could mean for social programs millions of Americans rely on. 

Tougher work requirements

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) is seen during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing to discuss fraud and waste in federal pandemic spending on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.

Republicans have been ramping up a push for tougher work requirements for safety net programs, with some setting sights in areas like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other social programs.

At a conference meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said potential changes to work requirements were featured in a presentation to GOP members of possible concessions from Democrats to seek in debt ceiling talks.

“That is an issue that is very bipartisan,” Mace argued. “That’s a good thing for Republicans to tackle. But again, the devils in the details.”

Rolling back Biden’s signature economic bill

President Biden delivers remarks before signing an executive order to help families access care, support care workers and family caregivers and strengthen the economy during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. (UPI Photo)

Some Republicans have been pushing to target the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a key component of President Biden’s domestic agenda that Democrats passed without GOP support last year, as part of the party’s debt ceiling plan. 

Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), head of the Republican Study Committee, told The Hill on Tuesday that proposals seeking to roll back part of the plan are in play. 

“I think when you look at all the information, even going back to our debt limit playbook, you look at what House Freedom Caucus was talking about, you look at Main Street’s talking about, that’s all been a part of it,” Hern said, referring to influential caucuses in the House. 

Members in the House GOP conference meeting on Tuesday suggested adding on a repeal of green energy tax credits and Internal Revenue Service enforcement funding boost that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) told The Hill on Tuesday there’s been “some discussions” aimed at rolling back certain tax provisions, but “it wouldn’t be an entire repeal of the IRA.”

McCarthy told reporters Tuesday he will probably agree to the repeal of some aspects of the IRA that members are asking for despite concerns about sending those measures to the Senate.

“Am I concerned about it? Yeah. But will I? Probably,” McCarthy said. 

However, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, also said on Tuesday that a full repeal is being suggested and discussed, and he would like to repeal “as much as possible” of the bill.

“Look, if you want to repeal the whole thing, I’m down with that,” Perry said.

Energy policy

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) is seen during the first day of the 118th session of Congress on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Greg Nash)

House Republicans have also discussed adding on part or all of their major energy package that passed last month, the H.R. 1 Lower Energy Costs Act, to the debt limit bill.

Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a key leader in crafting the debt limit proposal, said Tuesday morning that leaders had not yet decided if H.R. 1 would be in the debt bill.

“We’re for all of the things that can create a downward pressure on spending, and also we want to use this opportunity to drive some of our policy goals,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said. “We’re for H.R. 1, unleashing American energy.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said at an event on Tuesday that she also thinks “it’s possible” that the debt ceiling bill could be used as a vehicle for energy permitting reform.

“Putting all of H.R. 1 on there is probably a bite of the apple just a little bit too big,” she said, but added that if it’s narrowed down to “meaningful permitting reform…that might be enough to satisfy some folks.”

McCarthy on Tuesday also appeared to indicate including H.R. 1 in the debt limit bill is on the table.

“We’re able to grow the economy with our energy bill H.R. 1, that was a bipartisan bill that lowers the energy cost, makes us less dependent on China. More importantly, it lowers global emissions around the world,” he said.

Undoing Biden’s student loan actions

Student debt relief advocates gather outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, as the court hears arguments over President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

House Republicans are also zeroing in on proposals seeking to roll back moves by the Biden administration aimed at providing relief to student loan borrowers. 

Decisions that have come under fire by Republicans include the ongoing pause on federal student loan payments and interest accrual, as well as the president’s decision last year to provide widespread forgiveness to borrowers.

Perry said on Tuesday he is still expecting language targeting the president’s student loan actions to be included in the debt ceiling plan. 

The Congressional Budget Office cited the ongoing pause in a report last week as a key driver behind an increase of 75 percent, or $53 billion, in outlays for the Department of Education in March 2023, compared to a year ago. 

Rachel Frazin contributed.