The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted in favor of a bipartisan plan that raises the nation’s debt ceiling, setting things in motion to avoid a federal default. And naturally, pundits on both sides of the political divide had thoughts about it.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight, where she praised the house vote but expressed concern about the loss of “safety net” programs for people struggling to get by.
“It tells you and shows you that Democrats do not want to default,” said Psaki, who has a Sunday news show on MSNBC. “Many of them are holding their nose.”
The deal, reached over the weekend by the Biden administration and congressional Republicans, came just days ahead of a June 5 deadline, when federal officials said the U.S. would run out of money to pay its bills. After passing the house with a 314-117 vote, the bill will now go to the US Senate, where it is expected to be approved Thursday
As passed in the house, it includes some limited cuts to social programs, a couple of concessions to industrial polluters, freezes federal spending at 2023 levels for 2 years, ends the freeze on student loan repayments, claws back unspent COVID relief money and slightly diminishes the IRS budget, things Democrats dislike.
But it doesn’t obliterate Biden’s legislative priorities and it also raises the debt ceiling through 2025, taking the issue off the table through the rest of Biden’s current term in office. Obviously, Republicans dislike that part. The main thing is that the U.S. will continue to pay its bills and the world’s economy won’t crash.
“Many (Democrats) have been vocal about components of this debt limit package that they don’t like, whether it is work requirements for people of a certain age or less funding to go after people who don’t pay their taxes,” Psaki said. “They don’t like all those pieces.”
She added: “But ultimately they are being the adults in the room here by preventing the country from defaulting because the impact on the people across the country would be dramatic, catastrophic.”
Meanwhile on FOX, prior to the vote one host noted the news with a screenshot from the stolen video footage of Joe Biden’s troubled son, hunter.
After, Sean Hannity asked guest Stephen Miller what will happen with McCarthy and the conservatives Republicans in the House going forward.
“McCarthy lost 71 members of his caucus,” Hannity said. “Does he have to make adjustments moving forward? I would argue that he needs to bring everyone into the process more.”
Miller said he believes McCarthy will “evolve” his opinion on the matter.
“I’ve gotten to know him really well over the past seven years,” Miller, a former advisor to Donald Trump, told Hannity. “One of the things about Kevin is that he does adapt. He does evolve. He does listen to his members. He will hear the concerns they’ve expressed to him and it will just fuel him.”
Some Republicans in congress weren’t thrilled about the bill. Appearing on Fox News Wednesday night, Rep. Dan Bishop complained that “a sign of who got the best of the deal” is that “more Democrats voted for the bill than Republican did.”
