Biden, McCarthy try to win over Congress after reaching tentative debt ceiling deal

A day after President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a tentative deal to avoid defaulting on the U.S. debt, the leaders scrambled Sunday to get support from lawmakers who must vote on the legislation.

With many Republicans lawmakers scoffing at the agreement and some Democrats feeling they’d been left out of the process, Biden and McCarthy’s work was cut out for them.

McCathy, a California Republican, insisted Sunday that “95%” of GOP members of Congress were “very excited” about the deal.

But Republican lawmakers “haven’t been educated yet on what a turd-sandwich this ‘deal’ is,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) tweeted in response. “They will be.”

In exchange for Republican support on raising the federal government’s debt limit the next two years, Biden, a Democrat, agreed in principle to keep all non-defense spending mostly flat next fiscal year. It would only go up 1% the following year.

Republicans had insisted on major spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

“It has historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty … no new taxes, no new government programs,” McCarthy said of the deal Saturday.

The agreement adds new work requirements for people to qualify for food stamps and takes back about $30 billion in federal funding previously allocated for COVID aid that was never spent.

GOP pols including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) dismissed the moves as “fake spending cuts.”

“No real cuts to see here,” he tweeted Sunday.

Progressives seemed equally displeased over the weekend, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) voicing outrage over the proposed food stamp changes.

“We are one of the only countries in the world, if not the only country in the world, that is an industrialized country that puts any requirements on people who just want food,” Jayapal, chair of the House Progressive Caucus, told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

McCarthy, whose speakership has shaky support from the far right, cast Democrats’ displeasure as a selling point to Republicans. He claimed on “Fox News Sunday” that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) had complained to him, “there’s nothing in the bill for them.”

Jeffries rejected that characterization later in the day.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about, particularly because I have not been able to review the actual legislative text, all that we’ve reached is an agreement in principle,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Along with keeping non-defense spending mostly flat, the deal would take back some of the $80 billion Democrats have allocated to the IRS with the goal of modernizing the troubled agency, according to Politico.

The agreement reportedly funds care for military veterans at levels Biden previously proposed and includes steps to speed up national energy projects.

It came as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the government would effectively run out of money June 5. The feds have been using an array of financial tricks to keep things running since the debt ceiling was reached in January.

The White House was set to brief Democrats on the agreement Sunday night.

“I salute President Biden for protecting the American economy and delivering for American families by taking the threat of default off the table,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote colleagues Sunday.

“These have been a difficult few weeks given how intransigent and extreme the MAGA Republicans are, but nonetheless we must avoid default and it’s grave consequences for the American people.”

With Michael McAuliff and News Wire Services