Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden reach 'agreement in principle' on debt ceiling

At 8:10 pm CT on Saturday night of Memorial Day Weekend, Speaker Kevin McCarthy stepped out of his office and announced that he and Joe Biden had reached "an agreement in principle." CNBC is reporting that "House Republicans reached a tentative deal with the White House on Saturday night to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and avoid a catastrophic default on U.S. sovereign debt."

CNBC is also reporting that "Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday in the Capitol 'We have come to an agreement in principle. We still have a lot of work to do, but I believe this is an agreement in principle that's worthy of the American people.'" Speaker McCarthy took time to praise his negotiators, Rep. Patrick McHenry, (R-NC) and Rep. Garret Graves, (R-LA). Rep. McHenry is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Meanwhile, Rep. Graves serves on the "U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee."

CNBC is also reporting "McCarthy said he spoke to President Joe Biden twice on Saturday about the plan. 'I expect to finish the writing of the bill, checking with the White House and speaking to the president again tomorrow afternoon,' said the California Republican, 'Then posting the text of it tomorrow, and then be voting on it on Wednesday.'" This is Speaker McCarthy's press availability, which lasted less than 90 seconds:

I suspect that the high points for Republicans were summarized in this paragraph:

The deal has historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty and into the workforce, and rein in government overreach. There are no new taxes and no new government programs.

TRANSLATION: This bill, if signed into law, will slow down spending from the pace that Democrats spent money at during the first 2 years of the Biden administration. Next, the bill includes "consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty and into the workforce." That's workfare, which faces an uphill fight in the Democrat side of the House. That's a major sticking point with Democrats. Finally, it's important for Republicans to be able to say that this bill doesn't have any new taxes or new spending programs. That, in turn, means that this deal means this bill will "rein in government overreach."

This is a proverbial potential win-win situation for Biden and Speaker McCarthy. Still, depending on what's in the bill and if it passes, this is a major vindication for Speaker McCarthy. It took an historic 15 rounds of balloting for him to win the Speaker's Gavel. Immediately after obtaining the Speaker's Gavel, pundits started questioning whether he'd be able to accomplish anything consequential with such a tiny majority. Thus far, Speaker McCarthy is 2-for-2 in dispelling his doubters.

Biden said "The agreement protects my and Congressional Democrats' key priorities and legislative accomplishments." Biden also said that it "represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want."

This is what Fox Business is reporting:

An internal House GOP memo that outlines main messaging points for the deal says McCarthy and the White House have agreed to cut non-defense discretionary spending to fiscal 2022 levels, a key asking point for Republicans. It also claws back billions of unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds, and includes permitting reform to speed up approvals for energy and infrastructure projects.

Republican members were told on a conference call late on Saturday night that the deal also imposes a 1% growth cap on federal spending for six years, while spending for defense and veterans would go up, a source told Fox News. Lawmakers expect to be called back for a vote either Wednesday or Thursday, the source said.

While there's no disputing that the Democrats' hard left will complain about this bill, House 'moderates' from both sides of the aisle will carry the bill across the finish line. Chad Pergram, the guru of Capitol Hill, tweeted this:

2) GOP says the bill will “Cut spending year-over-year, including a rollback of non-defense discretionary spending to FY22 levels
-"Limit topline federal spending to 1% annual growth for the next 6 years"
-Claws back COVID funds
-Cuts new funding for IRS agents”

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 28, 2023

Notice that it doesn't repeal funding for IRS agents but it does cuts funding for new IRS agents.

Back to the CNBC article:

At least one senator, Utah Republican Mike Lee, has already threatened to use procedural maneuvers in the Senate to hold up a debt ceiling bill for as long as possible if he doesn’t like what it contains.

Based on Chad Pergram's reporting and Speaker McCarthy's press availability, I can't imagine this wouldn't satisfy Sen. Lee's demands. This is important, too:

B) The package includes a 2 year budget deal & a 2 year debt limit increase. So this gets this through the 2024 presidential election. No changes to Medicaid.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 28, 2023

I can't imagine this not getting across the finish line. That doesn't mean the sausage-making isn't ugly at times. It just means it's getting across the finish line, most likely by mid-week.