US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Ken Buck, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a far-right group of lawmakers in the House, said the debt ceiling deal did not deliver the deeper spending cuts that McCarthy promised Republicans when he ran for speaker of the House in January.
Under the deal, US federal spending in fiscal 2024 would remain unchanged from this year's level, and increase by 1% in fiscal 2025, while the debt limit would be temporarily lifted until January 1, 2025. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the deal would reduce the budget deficit by about $1.5 trillion over a decade compared to the baseline forecast under current law.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill in late April that would cut the deficit by $4.8 trillion over 10 years in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, forcing the Biden administration into tense negotiations with McCarthy. The deal was approved by both chambers and Biden signed into law on June 3.
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Asked on CNN's "State of the Union" on June 4 whether the House Freedom Caucus would seek a vote to impeach McCarthy because of the deal, Buck said: "I don't know if there will be an immediate impeachment vote. But I do know that House Speaker McCarthy has credibility issues."
To win the House speakership in a tense election in January, Mr. McCarthy agreed to rule changes that were unfavorable to him, including a rule that a vote to remove him from office could be initiated by just one lawmaker.
Other Republicans in the US House of Representatives have spoken out to defend Mr. McCarthy after President Biden signed into law a bill to remove the public debt ceiling, preventing the risk of the US government defaulting on its debts, which is forecast to happen as early as June 5.
"Speaker McCarthy's position is absolutely safe," Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican lawmaker from Louisiana who negotiated the debt ceiling deal, said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on June 4.
McCarthy himself told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" on June 4 that the deal was not perfect but was "the beginning of turning the ship" on spending. "Now we have to do the rest of the work," he said.
US Congressman Ken Buck
According to Congressman Buck, Mr. McCarthy promised Republicans that he would cut spending to fiscal 2022 levels, not to fiscal 2023 levels (higher than 2022) as in the deal, making the deal a failure for the party.
To regain the trust of conservative lawmakers, Mr. Buck said, McCarthy's future actions will need to "involve responsible spending" and stop relying on Democratic votes, as he did to pass a deal to lift the debt ceiling.
The deal passed the House of Representatives with 149 Republicans voting in favor and 165 Democrats. About half of the 76 Republicans who voted against came from the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, while 46 Democrats, mostly progressives, opposed the deal.
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