The House of Representatives this week introduced legislation to combine spending cuts with a debt limit increase that they plan to vote on next week.
The 320-page bill would provide two options for lifting the debt limit, which some estimate is set to be hit by as early as the first part of June but some others suggest July: increasing the current $31.4 trillion limit by $1.5 trillion or suspending it entirely through March 31, 2024. If that is the case, the bill would specify that the limit should be instated at whichever threshold is reached first.
The bill would also cap total discretionary spending at $1.47 trillion – equivalent to FY2022 levels. That would be $131 billion less than is currently appropriated for FY2023, cuts that would be a win for House Republicans.
The bill would stop spending increases for the next 10 years, except allowing for one percent annual growth. Thus, appropriated funding would not reach FY2023 levels until FY2034.
The bill has simply been introduced, and there is not a firm whip count on how many House Republicans would vote in favor of it. Yet, it represents the first step in a negotiation with the White House and Senate Democrats on a solution to the looming debt limit this summer.
