WASHINGTON — House Republicans are refraining from making specific demands for federal spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, offering a hint of flexibility that could allow Congress to avert risking a US payment default later this year.
The agreement that Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck last week with ultraconservatives from his party doesn’t require a specific level of cuts to be attached to a debt-ceiling increase, lawmakers said Wednesday.
During a meeting with Republicans on Tuesday morning, McCarthy showed a slide outlining the deal that said only, “We will not agree to debt-limit increase without budget agreement or commensurate fiscal reforms,” two people in the room confirmed. The slide doesn’t specify what those reforms might be.
