GOP May Be Edging Away From Rigid Position On Debt Limit

Several reports this week have suggested that House Republicans may be preparing to step away from their most ambitious goals from debt ceiling negotiations - balancing the federal budget in 10 years and freezing spending at pre-pandemic levels, without significantly cutting Social Security, Medicare or military funding.

• Bloomberg writes: “The GOP’s attempt to extract promises of fiscal belt-tightening is straight out of their 2011 political playbook, which yielded a 10-year, $2.1 trillion accord. This time, that strategy is running headlong into a defiant White House as the US inches ever closer to a catastrophic payment default this summer.”
• Punchbowl News reported yesterday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) may be looking at passing a short-term debt limit increase to delay a default a tactic which would allow the GOP to maintain pressure on Democrats without hitting the debt limit.
• NYT: “As they continue to deride President Biden’s $6.8 trillion budget proposal, released this month, House Republicans have begun to inch away from their own stated objectives, plagued by divisions that have prevented them from agreeing on a plan of their own...”