The U.S. government was expected to hit its borrowing limit on Thursday, allowing the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives to put a brake on federal spending following the debt spike in the COVID era.

A GOP majority means they have a say on how much – and even whether to – increase the $31.381 trillion debt ceiling by early summer, when the Treasury Department says it will need new borrowing authority. Republicans so far seem to be united on the idea of ​​a certain level of spending cuts before any deal can be reached on raising the debt ceiling.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, D-Calif., has been saying for weeks that he will push for spending cuts, and behind him are several Republicans with differing views on how to proceed. Some, like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, already have specific ideas, such as capping FY2024 levels to FY2022 levels.

Roy said in a radio interview on Tuesday that the idea is “a start” and that the House of Representatives needs to have a “serious conversation” about how to achieve a balanced budget in 10 years and then “tie” that to the idea of ​​raising the debt ceiling.

TEXAS REP. ROY SAYS TO REVOKE SPENDING REFORMS HE USES DEBT CEILING VOTE: “MY JOB IS NOT GIVING”

Republicans in the House of Representatives have a number of proposals regarding the debt ceiling, but the White House has said it will not negotiate to raise the debt ceiling. (Джабин Ботсфорд/The Washington Post через Getty Images/File)

By contrast, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona indicated that he would never agree to a higher debt ceiling, even if Democrats and the Biden administration somehow agreed to drastic cuts, saying the government already had a lot of money.

«Мы не можем поднять потолок долга», — написал Биггс в Twitter. “The Democrats carelessly spent our taxpayer money and devalued our currency. Они застелили себе постель, так что должны лежать в ней».

This week, there appears to be no GOP consensus on the debt ceiling, and congressional aides have indicated that Republicans will meet next week to flesh out a strategy. These meetings could eventually set conditions that must be met before key factions of the GOP majority in the House of Representatives can agree to a higher debt ceiling.

But the Republican Party’s lack of unity may not matter yet. Even as Republicans sharpen their spears in preparation for talks on how to cut the federal government by $6.3 trillion, it became clear this week that the first skirmish is likely to be whether the Democrats send whom -либо со своей стороны для переговоров.

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The Biden administration took the position from the start that the debt ceiling should be raised unconditionally. This is in line with the pattern that Democrats have followed for years, that any US government default would be an economic disaster and that the debt ceiling must be raised without delay or any discussion of new commitments to change how the government spends money.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has repeatedly said the White House will not negotiate a debt ceiling.
(Reuters/File)

“Government failure will irreparably damage the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week.

The White House has signaled several times this week that it believes there is nothing to negotiate.

“As President Biden has made clear, Congress must tackle debt restraint and must do so unconditionally,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.

“We’re not going to get around it, we’re not going to negotiate about it,” she said. «Мы не собираемся вести переговоры о потолке долга».

Republicans know only too well the dangers of dealing with big, important issues at the last minute — last year’s $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill was introduced late, hastily introduced and passed by House Democrats, a tactic Republicans vowed to stop when their majority . That’s why, for now, Republicans are determined to make sure there’s some sort of back and forth return.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is pushing for early talks with Democrats before the debt ceiling becomes an emergency, but so far to no avail.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky/File)

“I’d like to sit down with all the leaders, and especially the president, and start a discussion,” McCarthy told Fox News over the weekend. «Я считаю, что мы можем сесть с любым, кто хочет работать вместе».

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pennsylvania, believes the best way to make progress is to start talking now before the situation becomes an emergency.

“Let’s fight now to end the status quo,” he told CNN in January. — Давай сейчас же в комнату.

The broader fight over the debt ceiling is likely to get stuck for weeks in this skirmish over whether the Democrats should negotiate. Until the summer, there will be no urgent need to do anything, and the Biden administration is likely to use this time to argue the Democrats for the need for an unconditional increase in the national debt ceiling.

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One factor that could shake the status quo is whether there will be consensus around the idea of ​​negotiations, and as early as this week the Republicans seem to have secured support from Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. He told Fox News in an interview in Davos, Switzerland that bipartisanship is the only way forward, and he agrees with the Republican Party that the government has a spending problem.

«Мы должны работать вместе», — сказал он. «Я думаю, что нам нужно понять, что у нас есть проблема. We have a debt problem. We now have a national debt of $31, I think $31.4 trillion. that we all understand how we got there, how we prevent us from going further?