House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sounded off Wednesday after the House passed its version of the debt ceiling legislation, telling Fox News it represents the "largest savings of a bill in American history" in part by clawing back unspent COVID appropriations and managing the debt limit.
The bill passed by a slim margin with four Republicans voting with Democrats against it. However, the concerns of the Republican dissenters were in stark contrast to Democratic opposition – as Republicans Rep. Tim Burchett, of Tennessee voted ‘nay’ while saying in a statement he has never voted for legislation that increases the debt limit at any rate.
McCarthy told "Hannity" the bill raises the debt ceiling but only one year at a time, while simultaneously saving the American taxpayer $4.8 trillion over a ten-year period. The bill however faces stiff headwinds in a Democratic-led Senate.
"I need everybody to stand firm with us, even those four [Republicans] who voted against it as well," McCarthy said.
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"What this bill is, it's ‘Limit, Save, Grow’ – You want to limit the ability for government to grow so fast like it did under Democrats going forward. So we capp the growth at 1% each year for the next ten. We save money by being smart."
"That… billions of dollars sitting out there [from] COVID [that was] never spent — we claw that back so the American taxpayer can save the money. We put in work requirements to help people get jobs to move forward; help our supply chain and get our country moving again."
The bill's limitations on spending will curb the current rampant inflation, he predicted, adding that it also "cuts" tens of thousands of IRS agents to make government "here to help you, not go after you."
McCarthy said the bill would also rectify concerns from conservatives in the preceding Congress who were outraged when establishment Republicans joined with Democrats to pass a massive omnibus spending bill.
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"What we simply do is we pull the [$1.5 billion over ten years] figure back to 2022… spending."
McCarthy also slammed President Biden for claiming such provisions are, in McCarthy's summation, "going to starve babies and going to cut people off HeadStart or something – that's not true."
"Just four months ago, we were able to achieve all that. We are eliminating waste."
McCarthy also said Biden is incorrectly claiming Republicans are trying to slash Social Security and Medicare benefits.
He said that, in reality, the Congressional Budget Office reportedly discerned that under Biden, it is the first time within a ten-year window that the federal Highway Trust Fund, Medicare and Social Security actually "go insolvent."
An insolvent Social Security fund would be an "automatic cut" despite Biden's current stance toward the GOP's machinations, McCarthy said.