You don’t have to believe the hype about low-key lawmakers

Bipartisan bipartisan voting biden McCarthy: the case of Chip Graves, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and the Five Families

The GOP right has plagued past Republican speakers, and to win this speakership, McCarthy had to make some big concessions to another one of the Five Families: the archconservative Freedom Caucus.

And, perhaps most importantly, the California congressman, who has never been beloved by the most conservative faction of his party, agreed to lower the threshold to bring a vote to the floor to oust the speaker to just a single member.

Even with that looming, in his first big deal with Democrats, McCarthy didn’t turn to the hard right, but to the likes of Reps. Johnson and Garret Graves, R-La.

Graves is a get-it-done person in the Republican party. Before becoming a congressman, he was chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, where he was integral in fighting for dollars after the BP oil spill.

Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy of Texas seemed willing to go to the brink of default — or indeed over that cliff — to force McCarthy’s hand and ask for more cuts.

“A reminder that during Speaker negotiations to build the coalition, that it was explicit both that nothing would pass Rules Committee without AT LEAST 7 GOP votes,” he tweeted, “AND that the Committee would not allow reporting out rules without unanimous Republican votes.”

He couldn’t convince Massie to block the bill because he needed just one more vote to get what he wanted.

On PBS NewsHour Tuesday night, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus declined to say if they would force a vote to oust McCarthy if the debt-ceiling vote failed.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/01/1179367537/debt-ceiling-congress-bipartisan-vote-biden-mccarthy

Bipartisan Vote for Biden: Bipartisan Debt Ceiling in a Bipartisan Congress and an Inflationary Economy

Before McCarthy gets too comfortable he should remember that, in the end, Michael Corleone took out some of the control from other people.

McCarthy might not have to put forward another hard vote for his members for a year or a half since the delayed rematch. That’s key for him, since he may have angered the far right to get this deal over the finish line.

With an already iffy economy, persistent inflation and climbing interest rates, that’s good news for Biden. He’s worried about other vulnerabilities and the last thing he or his staff needs is another debt-ceiling fight in the middle of a presidential campaign.

The bill raises the debt ceiling until 2025, which is important for both Biden and McCarthy. The issue is taken off the table until after the election.

He did it with McConnell. Despite GOP intransigence, Biden has been able to bring about several bipartisan pieces of legislation.

Biden has shown his ability to work with people he doesn’t know, even if they are from different parts of the world.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/01/1179367537/debt-ceiling-congress-bipartisan-vote-biden-mccarthy

The Mafioso: The Support of a Measure to Reduce the Dedefessing Cost for the American Economy

There are fewer swing districts than 15 years ago, and few of them can even be considered competitive, giving lawmakers little incentive to compromise.

In a time when cynicism about politics seems to be everyone’s gut reaction, it’s easy to overlook the role of lower-profile lawmakers who helped avert a debt-ceiling crisis.

The leader of the negotiating team that came up with a plan to raise the debt ceiling was asked if he was moderate. He prefers the descriptor: “pragmatic conservatives who actually care about getting to work.”

It’s one of the many mafioso themed families referred to by this Congress’ Republicans. The Main Street Caucus, and a host of other coalitions in the middle, like the “New Democrat Coalition” on the other side of the aisle, were critical in securing support for the deal.

On the left side there was worry about how increased work requirements might hurt poor people, on the right side there was worry about how fast energy permits might affect the environment.

The Senate will have to pass the measure before it can go to the House, but if it does, it will be those who refused to support their party’s wing that had the most power in the Senate.

The negative feelings toward him on the right have grown in the last couple of years as conservatives painted him as a puppet of the progressive left.

He had to make compromises to get the job he’d wanted for a decade, and he ended up empowering the most extreme and pugilistic in his party.

That is backed up by data. The parties are very similar on almost every issue, from guns to abortion rights.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Concises on Senate-Majority-Correction-Censorship Negotiations

The Senate has begun debate on compromise legislation in order to raise the debt ceiling by the end of the week.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer kicked off the legislative session on Thursday by warning senators they would stay until they voted on the measure.

“The bill is now in the Senate, where we begin the process today of passing this legislation as soon as possible,” Schumer said. “The Senate will stay in session until we send a bill avoiding default to President Biden’s desk. We will work until the job is done.

On Thursday, the Senate spent much of the day trying to broker a deal among the chamber’s 100 members to speed up the voting schedule. Senate leaders were confident that it would pass.

To speed up the voting schedule, leaders and senators were trying to agree on how many amendments should be considered before a final vote. However, Schumer warned none of the amendments could be adopted without raising the potential of default.

The opposition in the Senate and the House has resulted in strange bedfellows. Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and the Vermont Independent each spoke out against the plan.

Graham has raised concerns the legislation doesn’t include sufficient funding for defense and Ukraine aid. The plan raises new concerns for climate change according to the argument made by sanders.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/01/1179550546/senate-debt-ceiling-bill

Biden’s Deal with the House Minority Selectman’s Caucus on the Future of the American Budget and the Cost of Care in the 21st Century

With his narrow control of the chamber, McCarthy saw the plan win support among majorities of both parties. And ultimately, Democrats played a larger role than Republicans in its passage: 165 Democrats joined 149 Republicans to approve the bill.

The package includes spending changes in order to increase the debt ceiling for two years.

“The deal the House passed last night is a promising step toward fiscal sanity,” he said on the Senate floor. “But make no mistake: there’s more work to be done.” The fight to end wasteful spending is not over.

The president said there were voices threatening to take America out of debt for the first time in history. Nothing. Nothing would have been more irresponsible. Nothing would have been more catastrophic.”

The president gave a victory lap after the Senate passed the legislation he negotiated to raise the debt ceiling for two years and cut federal spending.

In what appeared to be a nod to one of this key arguments for reelection, Biden underscored the type of steady leadership he asserts he can continue to provide in comparison to some of the partisan fighting being waged by more hardline Republicans, including leading Republican candidates for president.

“We need to see each other as fellow Americans even if our politics get more difficult,” Biden said. Treat each other with respect and dignity. Americans should cease shouting to join forces. Lower the temperature. Work together to pursue progress, secure prosperity and keep the promise of America for everybody.”

Biden listed all his administration priorities that he were protected as part of the deal, including the preservation of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care for veterans and technology investments.

Bipartisan Budget Breakdown and the Yellen Constraints on the Problem of Public Works and the Treasury Accountability of the U.S.

Some Republicans argued that the deal did not cut enough spending, while others thought the increased work requirements could lead to more hunger.

Passage of the bipartisan bill comes just days ahead of when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the government would begin to run out of money to pay its bills.

After Republicans refused to raise the debt limit if Biden and the Democrats didn’t put restrictions on federal spending, tensions in Washington ended.

Biden even considered invoking the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to keep making payments on the nation’s debt — but ultimately determined there was not enough time left before a looming deadline to use the untested strategy.