After a brief standoff, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has agreed to support a push by 11 of his more fiscally-responsible Republican colleagues for a $130 billion spending cut, which would represent a mere one percent decrease in total spending, as part of an ongoing battle between House Republicans and the Biden Administration over the national budget.
The 11-member cohort of Republican representatives, dissatisfied with McCarthy’s decision to raise the debt ceiling, had refused to vote on a number of GOP-backed bills, unless McCarthy agreed to support a $130 billion reduction in future government spending, as well as to stop seeking Democrat support for his bills. After a two-day standoff, McCarthy agreed to seek the $130 billion cut in the upcoming appropriations bills.
Even if Republicans succeed in getting this reduction in government funding, it will produce a negligible reduction in total government spending. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) stated that the cut will simply put “total spending 1% lower than if we were operating under a continuing resolution.”
The reduction in spending would, however, represent a contravention of the deal negotiated between Speaker McCarthy and President Joe Biden as part of their deal to avoid a U.S. default on its debt. The two agreed to maintain domestic spending at its current level, while also raising the debt ceiling beyond its initial $31.4 trillion limit.
It remains to be seen whether this minute reduction in spending will derail efforts to pass funding bills that will keep the government running in Fiscal Year 2024, which begins on October 1. To avoid a government shutdown, the appropriations bills must be passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden by September 30.
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