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Conservatives are furious at Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., for what they see as a betrayal after he voted for the debt limit agreement reached by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Massie, who sits on the House Rules Committee, stunned deficit hawks Tuesday when he became the deciding vote advancing the Fiscal Responsibility Act to the House floor, with his typical allies, Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, voting against. “I respect opposition to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, but I am voting yes,” Massie said Tuesday.
The Biden-McCarthy agreement suspends the debt limit with no cap through Jan. 1, 2025, while also cutting non-defense spending to near fiscal 2022 levels, capping growth at 1% for the next two years and proposing non-mandatory caps for the four years after. It also claws back some money aimed at the Internal Revenue Service and some unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds. “I’ve been in Congress for a decade and this is the first real bill that cuts spending,” Massie said.
Russ Vought, who served as former President Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget and opposed the bill, accused Massie of going over to “the dark side.” He called out Massie on Twitter and argued that the spending caps set in the bill will be counterproductive.
MCCARTHY-BIDEN DEBT CEILING DEAL PASSES BIG PROCEDURAL HURDLE IN HOUSE
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., attends the House Rules Committee meeting on the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which will increase the federal debt limit, in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“As you know, when the caps are set, they become a floor and a ceiling. The idea that passing this deal will allow you to focus on the appropriations process is nonsensical,” Vought tweeted. He argued that the forced 1% spending cut that triggers if Congress fails to pass 12 appropriations bills as part of regular order will incentivize future lawmakers to…
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