McHenry Touts Tentative Agreement On Debt Ceiling Increase

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his supporters have excitedly shared the news that the new debt limit agreement will pass.

Although details of the package still remain unknown, even among some House members, there appears to be an agreement reached and the bill is expected to pass this week.

"This is the biggest set of spending cuts and substantial change from the spending of the last two years for this administration, that is, that is changing the trajectory of the fiscal house here in Washington," said House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry.

McHenry and Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana, McCarthy's top two negotiators, stood next to McCarthy shortly before the bill is expected to be released.

"Though touting dramatic cuts to spending in multiple media appearances Sunday, McCarthy was still mum on most of the biggest questions that remain about the bill – namely, whether both sides agreed to freeze nondefense discretionary spending at fiscal 2023 levels or roll them back to 2022," reported Fox News.

"But in terms of the fiscal house, you want to understand what's happening now. We have spending caps in place, spending caps take nondefense discretionary spending down to $704 [billion]," said McHenry. "And we hold vets harmless. So this means that for nondefense, non-veteran spending, there are significant cuts year over year."

House republicans demanded cutbacks in 2022, and fiscal year 2022 shows cutbacks on spending were roughly $130 billion to $150 billion lower than the current level, which was set by Congress last year at around $772.5 billion.