President Biden
and Speaker
McCarthy last night
announced that they have
struck an agreement in principle
to lift the nation's
borrowing cap and avert a looming
fiscal catastrophe.
With the US set
to run out of money to pay its bills
as early as Monday, June 5th.
But a big question remains can they now
get this deal passed in time?
President Biden acknowledged last night
that the agreement
is, quote, a compromise,
which means not everyone gets
what they want, unquote.
And already
we know about deep concerns
from progressives and from conservatives.
McCarthy, on a call
with Republicans last night
reportedly said
the Democrats did not get a single thing
they wanted in the deal.
And McCarthy emphasized what the GOP
got in exchange
for raising the debt limit,
capping non-defense domestic spending,
canceling billions in IRS funding,
and temporarily imposing work
requirements on childless
able bodied adults
younger than 55 who receive food stamps.
President Biden says
the agreement protects
Democratic priorities
and legislative accomplishments.
One could also note that the deal lifts
the nation's debt
limit for two years,
avoiding a messy fight
just ahead of the 2024 election.
And in general, the cuts are not as deep
as many House
Republicans wanted
and many House Democrats feared.
Joining us
now, a Republican leader
who helped negotiate
this deal, Congressman
Dustin Johnson of South Dakota.
Congressman
thanks so much for joining us.
So what can you tell us
about the specifics
of what's in this agreement
and why do you think it's a good deal
for House Republicans to vote for?
Yeah, I think you did a good job
of providing the outlines
as far as the spending.
I mean, this is going to cut non defense
and non VA
spending back to 20, 22 levels.
That is a big get for Republicans.
That's what we had in limits, save, grow,
and it's going to save $1.5 trillion
over the course of the next ten years.
And also for six years
establishes caps at 1%
so we can slow the growth of spending.
But two things I want to hit
that your graphic did not have.
First off.
Late last night
a new provision was agreed
to by the White House
and the speaker
whereby we're going to unlock
American energy.
We are going to provide shot clocks
for NEPA review,
environmental review
of 12 months and 24 months
that is going to help.
Whether you like renewable energy
or traditional energy.
This is going to help unlock that energy
to speed up the process by meet
up with France,
Germany and France, the
same kind of project
they would get done in two years.
It takes us seven years. Jake.
So we do need reform here.
And obviously, Democrats like Buddha,
JeJe and Manchin have talked
about doing this.
Well, now we're going to get it done.
And then finally, just a big thing.
It's administrative PAYGO.
When you have the administration
step forward
and propose
some vast new regulation
that's going to cost
hundreds of billions of dollars
Now they have to go find the money
within the existing bureaucracy.
It is a huge strike against
a growing regulatory state.
Yeah, that's
one of the things
that members
of Congress complain about the most,
not just with Democratic administrations,
but Republicans
passing a law and not allocating money
to make sure the law goes through.
We're hearing a lot of grumbling
from conservatives in your caucus.
Congressman Ken
Buck called this deal
a debt ceiling surrender.
Congressman Ralph
Norman said it was insanity.
Congressman Bob, good
tweeted that
no one
claiming to be a conservative
could justify a yes vote.
Their basic criticism
is that
McCarthy gave up
too much
and could have could have gotten more.
How do you what do you say to that?
Well,
I'm the head of a group of 75
pragmatic conservatives
called the Main Street Caucus
And so when we say
conservatives are against it,
I want to make it clear,
I don't know a single
one of the mainstream
caucus, conservative
caucus conservatives.
Well,
and even some of them
I listen, there will be Freedom
Caucus people who vote for this package.
So when you're saying
that conservatives have concerns,
it is really
the most colorful conservatives.
Some of those guys you mentioned
didn't vote for the thing
when it was kind of a Republican
wish list, limited, save, grow.
Those votes were never really in play.
We get that.
But overwhelmingly,
Republicans in this conference
are going to support the deal.
How could they not?
It is a fantastic deal.
How many votes
do you think you're going to get?
How many votes can you afford to lose?
We're starting the whipping process now.
I have talked to maybe between two
and three dozen Republican members.
I have not heard
they had a single one of them.
Tell me I can't support that.
I just
I just gave you the names of three
that you can call maybe.
Well, Buck Norman and good
to have some thoughts.
I'm not sure.
Evan Ducey Johnson called Bob
Good is the perfect way to get his vote.
But and let's be honest,
Bob, Good will not vote for this thing.
And it doesn't matter
if Mother Theresa came back from the dead
and called him. He's not voting for it.
He was never going to win.
This is going to pass.
So 70 members of the Main Street
Caucus that you mentioned,
are they all going to vote for it,
you think? I would be surprised.
I mean,
I haven't
talked to every single one of them,
but everybody I'm
talking to, Jake, understands
that when you're reducing spending,
that when you're peeling back
the regulatory state,
when you are unlocking American energy,
when you're getting people back to work,
this is a big deal.
What concessions to McCarthy
make to Biden and Democrats
to get it across the finish line?
That is kind of the amazing part to me.
There were no wins for Democrats
If you look at the state of policy
today in this country
and you say, okay,
we're going into a deal
and one side is going to get
half of the other
side is going to get half.
Republicans have pulled their half
this way. Democrats have pulled that.
They're half of that way.
There is nothing
after the passage of this bill
that would be more liberal
or more progressive than it is today.
It's a remarkable
conservative accomplishment.
Do you.
Are you going to need
Democratic votes to get it
passed in the House?
There will be some Democrats
will vote for this.
But what you need them?
I guess that's my point.
Well,
we only have 222 Republicans, right?
I think it is certainly plausible
that we could get 218,
although I think it's going
to look a lot better for this country
if we can put a big number up
on the board
Democrats like Joe Biden
and some in the House
coming together
with Republicans to pass this,
that's going to be better
for the country.
So Congresswoman
Jayapal, the head of the House
Progressive Caucus, a Democrat
you know, vote, too.
Well, I don't know what
she's going to vote, but but,
you know, one question
I'm sure is on her mind,
which is
why was it so important
for House
Republicans
to have this work requirement
for able bodied
food stamp recipients
who don't have dependents,
but not important to get
corporations to
at least pay some taxes
if they made a profit
Well, we raised
taxes said not me, but Joe
Biden and Democrats
raised taxes
on corporations
by $700 billion last year.
There was not, frankly,
an appetite among Republicans
to allow Democrats to do that again.
What there is an appetite for
is making sure that we're helping people
find that pathway out of poverty.
I grew up in a family of modest means.
I saw my parents busting their butts
every single day.
And I know it was those efforts
that helped me escape poverty.
You cannot escape poverty without work.
You just can't.
It's got to be a part of the solution.
These requirements are not mean.
They're not onerous.
It's 20 hours a week.
Work, training,
education, or volunteering
at a local food bank
for people who are able-bodied,
not pregnant,
don't have kids at home, live in an area
where there are jobs.
We know they work
these requirements have been in place
since 1996
when Bill Clinton signed them into law.