The House has advanced Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) debt ceiling plan to the floor, teeing the legislation up for a likely vote later Wednesday afternoon.
The vote is the final procedural hurdle House Republicans must overcome in order to pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for some spending cuts. The House is expected to reconvene around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday to vote on its final passage, according to House leaders.
MCCARTHY UNVEILS LEGISLATION RAISING DEBT CEILING UNTIL NEXT YEAR
The vote comes after days of deliberations between McCarthy and several Republican lawmakers as part of the speaker’s latest efforts to restart negotiations with the White House over the debt ceiling. The proposal passed the Rules Committee early Wednesday morning after a marathon session in which GOP leaders made some changes to the bill’s language, hoping to win over some key holdout votes.
Most notably, McCarthy agreed to make changes to one of his provisions that would repeal tax credits on clean fuels after lawmakers from several Midwestern states raised concerns. Following a meeting with members of the Iowa delegation late Tuesday, McCarthy agreed to include exceptions to preserve those credits for parties who entered into binding contracts between August 2022 and April 19.
It remains unclear whether that concession will be enough to push McCarthy’s bill across the finish line, as a few lawmakers have not yet said how they plan to vote. The speaker did manage to win over some key voices, however, such as Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Chip Roy (R-TX).
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) said she remains undecided just hours ahead of the final vote, and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) declined to answer which way he’d swing.
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Rosendale did pen an op-ed with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) on Wednesday in support of the legislation, however.
McCarthy also met with holdouts Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday afternoon, although it remains unclear whether Gaetz has changed his mind. Burchett emerged from the meeting saying he’s still a firm “no.”
