Republican Hard-Liners Threaten ‘Reckoning’ for Debt-Limit Deal 

Bloomberg

Published May 30, 2023 13:06

(Bloomberg) -- Hard-line Republican lawmakers threatened to exact revenge for a deal between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a catastrophic US debt default.

“No matter what happens, there is going to be a reckoning,” Representative Chip Roy of Texas said Tuesday, adding that House Republicans have been “torn asunder” by the agreement.

Roy and other members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus didn’t say at a press conference whether they would seek the ouster of McCarthy over the agreement, a critical point of leverage hard-liners have at their disposal. But leaders denounced the bargain in fiery terms.

Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the group’s chairman, said the debt deal “fails to deliver” and that caucus members will do everything in their power to stop it. 

Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona called the debt-limit deal “one of the biggest abominations since I’ve been in Washington.”

McCarthy gained his post as leader of the House only after forging a tenuous alliance with Republican hard-liners and an extraordinary 15 rounds of voting. He could be ousted from his post if only a few Republicans back his removal, unless he relies on support from at least some Democrats  to keep his post.

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