House Republicans: Debt Limit Bill Passage Forces ‘AWOL’ Biden to Negotiate Spending Cuts

House Republicans have ramped up pressure on President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to work with the GOP on reducing government spending now that the House has passed a debt limit package.

The Limit, Save, Grow Act, which passed Wednesday with no Democrat support, would lift the debt ceiling through early next year while saving the government an estimated $4.8 trillion over the next ten years.

“One party has taken care of the debt ceiling. We have lifted the debt ceiling,” McCarthy told reporters of the bill’s passage, an indisputable GOP victory that took months of whipping and intraparty negotiating.

“The president wants to make sure the debt ceiling’s gonna be lifted? Sign this bill,” the speaker added.

The U.S. is expected to reach its debt limit as early as this summer, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned of “economic catastrophe” should Biden and Congress not move to increase the limit in time.

Biden and Schumer are aiming for a “clean” debt ceiling hike — that is, raising the nation’s $31 trillion debt limit without the spending cut conditions Republicans are seeking.

Biden, who has already vowed to veto Republicans’ measure, said as recently as Wednesday that raising the limit was “not negotiable,” a posture that has led to Republican criticisms that the president has been “missing in action” on the matter.

President Biden on debt limit negotiations: "They haven't figured out the debt limit yet…I'm happy to meet with McCarthy but not on whether or not debt limit gets extended. That's not negotiable." pic.twitter.com/urzrNpBmAE

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 26, 2023

“The president has been AWOL the entire time, hoping that we fail,” Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committees, told Breitbart News.

Cline, who also serves as chair of a congressional task force on budget and spending, echoed the sentiments of many Republicans who said Wednesday the “ball is in Biden’s court” now.

“He will have to come to the table and respond, as will Schumer in the Senate,” Cline said, noting Schumer would not have the requisite 60 votes to pass Democrats’ desired clean ceiling increase.

While the bill passage is a significant win for McCarthy, House Freedom Caucus member Ralph Norman (R-SC) foreshadowed what is expected to be an increasingly contentious fight between the two chambers and president as the government nears a default on its debts.

“As I told the speaker today, I would have much preferred double the cuts, but one big thing is what he said he was going to do: This package has got to be accepted as is,” Norman told Breitbart News. “If the Democrats water this down, then we’re out. It’s on them. It’s up to him to hold tight.”

“Anything less? We got a problem,” Norman added.

The South Carolina Republican also lauded House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) for vowing to refuse to take up any Senate bills if Scalise saw a need to use that as leverage in the dealmaking process with Democrats.

Scalise and others in leadership have been, thus far, largely in sync with those in or aligned with the conservative, anti-establishment Freedom Caucus.

The show of unity is historically uncharacteristic and follows a stunning 15-ballot speaker race in January that only concluded after the most right-wing members of the party could agree on terms with leadership for the upcoming two years in Congress.

Any future votes will require continued consensus as Republicans in the House can only afford a few defections in their party before they risk a bill failing.

Asked during a call with reporters about those in the Republican conference like Norman who plan to hold firm against voting for any weaker spending cuts, Scalise said, “The negotiation needs to happen on the Democrat side, in the Senate and in the White House, not in the Republican-led House.”

“We had those negotiations and came up with a bill that saves taxpayers money and grows the economy,” Scalise continued. “At the end of the day, it is President Biden who can no longer sit on the sidelines. He’s been in hiding.”