Debt Deal Update: No One Got Everything They Wanted

Plus: The Left’s War on Farmers

Debt Deal Update: No One Got Everything They Wanted
Over the long weekend, House and White House negotiators agree to a 99-page deal. The House is set to vote on it tomorrow. CNN reported, “Party leaders in Washington are waging an urgent campaign Monday to convince Democrats and Republicans to get behind compromise legislation that would avert a first-ever national default, with each side proclaiming victory following marathon talks.”

Politico reported that White House insiders said that “it could have been a LOT worse.” Darn.

Among the details, Politico reported:

Raising the debt limit … The debt ceiling won’t be a problem again until well after the next presidential election. The text suspends the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, but the Treasury Department’s “extraordinary measures” will be replenished during that time, pushing the next X-date at least several months later.

Spending caps … Negotiators agreed to place limits on overall discretionary spending for the next two fiscal years, but they notably agreed to break the principle of “parity” between defense and nondefense spending that had been key to previous budget agreements. Defense spending would rise about 3% next year, while nondefense spending would remain essentially flat. (Note that with annual inflation still over 4%, both amount to a real-dollar cut.)

Appropriations incentives … The bill gives Congress some encouragement to actually pass their annual appropriations bills rather than simply sidestep the new budget caps with a full-year CR: If the 12 spending bills aren’t passed by year’s end, a 1% spending cut would be enforced — applied evenly to defense and nondefense accounts to keep the pressure bipartisan.

Covid aid clawbacks … Nearly $30 billion in unspent relief money Congress approved during the height of the pandemic would be clawed back from dozens of programs. There are cutouts for some programs such as veterans health care and Covid-19 treatment and vaccine research.

IRS rollbacks… After Republicans spent months railing President JOE BIDEN ’s push for $80 billion in Internal Revenue Service funding, the deal would divert a chunk of that money, meant to boost tax enforcement and crack down on fraud. The bill itself rescinds $1.4 billion of the funding first provided in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the White House says it could shift $20 billion more to backfill other nondefense spending.

Work requirements … Adults 49 and under currently need to meet work requirements to receive SNAP nutrition benefits, and the bill would gradually raise that age to 54. It would at the same time fully exempt veterans, the unhoused and those who were recently in foster care for the first time.

RELATED:

House Freedom Caucus Republicans Sound Alarm on Debt Ceiling Agreement (The Epoch Times)

Newt Gingrich on Debt Deal — ‘Dramatic Victory’ (Breitbart)

Why the debt limit deal is so hard to analyze. (Brian Riedl via Twitter)

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