This will be the first major test for McCarthy because he has the power (just like the 20 did during the speaker vote) to either say “no” or to get a lot of concessions for saying yes.
While I would love to see him say “no” there is not support among a majority of republicans on the hill to do it.
Will McCarthy get a lot out of the negotiation and use his power or will he return to his milquetoast roots? We will see. I don’t expect much, but maybe I will be surprised.
No negotiations
Lots of Houses votes
Bill 1: Reform 1, Debt Limit Increase 1
Bill 2: Reform 2, Debt Limit Increase 2
Bill 3: Reform 3, Debt Limit Increase 3
....
Hundreds of bills - Hundreds of possible ways forward
Some reforms might be exceptionally easy, say:
1. $1 billion increase for every time Biden says the national debt is about $100,000 per American that gets aired on a unique national NBC/ABC/CBS weekday 5pm to 8pm news show, up to a total of $50 billion
2. $50 billion increase if a Refugee Convention Article 44 denunciation from the US is received by the Secretary of the UN by March 1st 2023 (to get our borders solely under the control of US law a year later).
Let the American people know that Republicans are working hard to get the nation’s finances in order.
The more negotiations drag on the less negotiation room Republicans will have.
Don’t put all the Republican ‘eggs’ in one basket because Biden and Schumer can and will try to smash all of them.
Put each Republican idea into legislative form and have the Republicans & Democrats vote:
yes for reform & financial responsibility
no for continued irresponsibility