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View all search resultsUS House hardliners could try to block debt ceiling deal without 'robust' cuts
President Joe Biden and Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have voiced growing confidence about striking a debt ceiling deal to avoid a catastrophic default, but they could be tripped up by last-minute opposition from the hardline House Freedom Caucus.
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resident Joe Biden and Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have voiced growing confidence about striking a debt ceiling deal to avoid a catastrophic default, but they could be tripped up by last-minute opposition from the hardline House Freedom Caucus.
The small but powerful Republican faction warned this week that they could try to block any agreement to raise the US$31.4 trillion debt ceiling from passing the House of Representatives if the accord does not contain "robust" federal spending cuts.
"If the president thinks that there's just going to be some acclamation like, 'Oh, great, yeah! We'll do whatever just to get a deal!' – that's insane, right? We need something that's going to work," said Representative Chip Roy, a prominent Freedom Caucus member.
While there are many variables at play, opposition from the Freedom Caucus could, at a minimum, slow down passage of a bill at a time when the economy can ill afford it, given the Treasury Department's warning that the federal government could be unable to pay all its bills as soon as June 1.
