Congress Looks To Reach Agreement On Debt Ceiling; Bice, Hern Push For House Action

When Congress returns from its current two-week break on Monday, it’s expected members will return to the difficult task of trying to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling and it already it seems that the Oklahoma delegation could figure prominently in driving the discussion.

The latest reports suggest Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to unveil a proposal next week to suspend the debt ceiling for one year in exchange for concessions on the budget. Two of Oklahoma’s members weighed on the contentious issue this past week.

Vice Chair of the Republicans’ 70-member Main Street caucus, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK5) joined chairman Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) this week in sending a letter to Speaker McCarthy outlining “those proposals that have garnered the most support from our caucus” and give them “every confidence they can secure 218 votes in the U.S. House of Representatives…” 

The proposals include clawing back what they say is $70 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief funds, ending the COVID-spurred pause on student loan repayments, cutting non-Defense discretionary spending back to the fiscal year 2022 levels, and increasing work requirements for benefits programs like SNAP, better known as food stamps.

The intention is that these terms would be part of any legislation to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, which is something President Biden and Democrats have said they will not agree to. Action on the debt, they say, must be handled in a ‘clean’ bill with no conditions.

Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK1), who chairs the GOP’s even larger Republican Study Committee, also sent out a letter this week to his RSC colleagues. In it, he said the time for discussion is essentially over and that it’s time for action. “Passage of a strong debt limit bill before the end of the April legislative session must be the chamber’s top priority,” Hern wrote. “We must work night and day to get it passed to show the American people we can be trusted and force the Senate and White House to answer for their dereliction of duty.”

The stage is being set for what looks to be an important few weeks in how the federal government handles the looming debt crisis. The deadline for increasing the government’s borrowing capacity so as to avoid going into default is believed to be sometime this summer and perhaps as early as June.