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JUNE

**5, 2023**

Dayen on TAP

Democrats’ Resounding Vote for Debt Ceiling Concessions Won’t Age
Well

Rep. Pramila Jayapal explains why the Fiscal Responsibility Act puts
Democrats in a difficult position.

Joe Biden’s re-election hype team, Building Back Together, released an
ad <[link removed]> on the debt limit deal
that manages to say almost nothing about the deal itself. Three of the
four selling points involve things the deal didn’t touch (Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid); it managed to add that veterans
benefits were expanded. (The increase in VA health care to the Biden
budget level
<[link removed]>
is below the rate of inflation, and only grows above that if you include
appropriations for the PACT Act, which was separately passed last year.)

Presidents seeking re-election are going to tout bipartisan deals, even
ones without much to celebrate. What has Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
concerned is that so many Democrats affirmed the agreement. "Our
strategy was to not give them one vote more than what they needed to
pass," Jayapal told the

**Prospect** in an interview last Friday, "with enough of a strong no
vote to make clear that it was not a good deal."

In the end, more Democrats approved the Fiscal Responsibility Act in the
House and Senate than Republicans, despite the fact that the only
members of Congress who negotiated the agreement directly were in the
House GOP. In the name of averting default, this has pulled Democrats
into supporting policies that House Republicans want to expand.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy could barely hold back his glee
<[link removed]>
with reporters. "I think it’s wonderful that [Democrats] voted for it,
because they are now on record," McCarthy said. "Let’s get the rest of
the IRS agents, let’s get the rest of the work requirements, let’s
cut more, because we are in a big debt."

Already, the must-pass farm bill
<[link removed]>
is emerging as a battleground for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP). Republicans want to build on the work requirement for
childless, able-bodied adults, which was extended to age 55. Democrats
are saying that further changes are off the table. Jayapal argues that
significant Democratic support for some work requirements—even the
lead Democrats on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees voted for
the deal—could weaken the Democratic hand.

Jayapal was among just 46 Democrats
<[link removed]> who voted against the
bill last week. In a surprise, 52 Democrats voted for the rule
<[link removed]> to begin debate on the
Fiscal Responsibility Act. Rule votes are almost always conducted along
party lines, but Freedom Caucus types revolted, necessitating a
Democratic rescue to save the deal.

Axios initially reported that a side deal, potentially around increasing
earmarks
<[link removed]>
for federal projects in Democratic districts, got Democrats to support
the rule. But both McCarthy and Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
(D-NY) denied this
<[link removed]>.
"House Democrats simply did the right thing and made sure the procedural
vote passed because failure was not an option," said a Jeffries
spokesperson.

Jayapal thinks Democrats should have gotten something from saving the
bill. She pointed out that the deal enabled increases in military
spending without a concurrent rise in nondefense accounts. It creates a
lower baseline for the future trajectory of federal spending. And it
established concessions under the threat of default as normal political
practice <[link removed]>,
one that Republicans could try again as little as two years from now.

The White House is pleased
<[link removed]>
that they mostly allowed Republicans rhetorical satisfaction, while the
reality of the deal is more muted. But there are political implications
to giving that kind of ground, Jayapal warned.

"We have to be clear that in principle and in policy, there will be
people that will be hurt," she said. "For a lot of Democrats who are not
for these things who voted yes, they are going to have to figure out how
to explain what they did."

~ DAVID DAYEN

Follow David Dayen on Twitter <[link removed]>

[link removed]

A Spending Cap in Name Only
<[link removed]>
In our final X-Date, we note how Congress is already scheming to avoid
restrictions on military spending. BY DAVID DAYEN

Predatory Lending’s Prey of Color
<[link removed]>
Black and Latino borrowers are more likely to get trapped in cycles of
debt, because they have few other options for dealing with structural
poverty. BY RAMENDA CYRUS

Tossed by Cement Mixers, the Court Grows Dizzy
<[link removed]>
Last Thursday, the Supremes ruled against a union of cement-mixer
drivers—but their very odd decision could have been lots worse for
American workers. BY HAROLD MEYERSON

[link removed]

 

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