McCarthy faced attacks from members of the House Freedom Caucus after unveiling an "agreement in principle" with the White House over the weekend. The deal would claw back some unspent COVID-19 pandemic funds and provide a cut from funding granted to the IRS in President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
It would also suspend the debt limit until after the 2024 presidential election. McCarthy acknowledged that conservatives may not have gotten everything they wanted from the legislation but argued Democrats got nothing at all.
"Maybe it doesn't do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction that no one thought that we would be able to today," McCarthy said "Fox News Sunday," going on to tout that his legislation cuts all funding increases for the IRS in 2023. "I'll debate this bill with anybody," he continued. "Is it everything I wanted? No, because we don't control all of it. But it is the biggest recission in history. It is the biggest cut Congress has ever voted for in that process."
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May 29, 2023
The speaker also stated that the bill would sit for public review for 72 hours before coming up for a vote in the House. However, some members of the GOP caucus expressed frustration with the current state of negotiations. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., said he was a "hard pass" on the deal.
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Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., described the plan as "utter capitulation" earlier this weekend. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also criticized the bill early Sunday morning, saying it does virtually nothing to roll back Biden's expansion of the IRS.
While McCarthy touted canceling the IRS's $1.8 billion funding expansion in 2023, critics pointed out that it was only a tiny fraction of the $80 billion in funds the IRS was set to receive in the coming years. McCarthy argued those funding increases could be canceled yearly if Republicans maintained the majority. McCarthy told Fox News that the opposition from the GOP members was not a problem "because more than 95% of all those in the conference were very excited."
The deal has been met with mixed reactions from the Republican Party, with some members expressing frustration with the current state of negotiations. However, McCarthy defended the bill, stating that it was a step in the right direction and the most significant cut Congress had ever voted for in that process. The bill will sit for public review for 72 hours before coming up for a vote in the House.
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