Congressional Republicans announced Wednesday their plan for a new federal budget — and a debt ceiling increase — with a bill that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said would “provide more than $4.5 trillion in savings to the American taxpayer” with $130 billion in domestic spending cuts and program reforms.

What You Need To Know

  • Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy took to the floor on Wednesday to outline a debt ceiling bill he said would "provide more than $4.5 trillion in savings to the American taxpayer"

  • The bill, known as the "Limit, Save, Grow Act," would raise the debt ceiling into 2024 and cut spending to "pre-inflationary" levels, while making cuts to various programs, including the Inflation Reduction Act

  • McCarthy's claims about deficit reduction have not yet been verified by independent, nonpartisan agencies

The “Limit, Save, Grow Act,” McCarthy said, would raise the debt limit into the next year, cut spending to “pre-inflationary” fiscal year 2022 levels and limit federal spending growth to 1% annually. McCarthy’s claims about deficit reduction have not been verified yet by independent, nonpartisan agencies.

The California Republican also attacked President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for what he described as an unwillingness to negotiate on the debt limit.

“President Biden and Sen. Schumer have no right to play politics with the debt ceiling,” McCarthy said, before mocking the Senate’s inaction on the issue. “I think the Senate can honor maple syrup and basketball teams and negotiate on the debt limit at the same time.”

The bill would also repeal funding to the IRS — which McCarthy framed as “repeal(ing) Biden’s army of 87,000 IRS agents,” a misleading claim he and other Republicans have lobbed at the administration — pull back unspent COVID-era funding, as well as block student loan forgiveness, repeal multiple aspects of Democrats’ climate change, social spending and tax reform measure, the Inflation Reduction Act, and place work outcome requirements on those seeking public benefits.

The bill also seeks to reduce and repeal benefits and tax credits for clean energy development, which McCarthy called “green giveaways.”

“Now that we’ve introduced a clear plan for a responsible debt limit increase, they have no more excuses to refuse to negotiate,” McCarthy said.

However, Schumer has made it clear via social media that he’s been waiting with bated breath for McCarthy to introduce a budget. Since Feb. 1, Schumer has tweeted 18 times to ask McCarthy and House Republicans, “Where is your plan?”

In a Twitter post on Monday, in response to a news article previewing McCarthy’s speech, Schumer said that “instead of working to deliver for American families, the GOP wants to cut food assistance from 6 million low-income Americans—including children, caregivers, veterans, and people with disabilities.”

As McCarthy finished his speech on the House Chamber floor, Biden was making his way to a lectern at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 77 training center in Accokeek, Md.

Toward the end of his remarks, Biden observed that McCarthy likes to quote President Ronald Reagan.

“He doesn’t quote everything Reagan said,'' Biden remarked. “Reagan said, ‘debt ceiling brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans’ benefits. The United States has a special responsibility to itself and to the world to meet its obligations.

The president also invoked his predecessor, Donald Trump: “He said, quote, ‘I can't imagine anybody ever even thinking about using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge.’ I guess he didn’t know the new MAGA Republicans he bred.”