Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plan to link spending cuts to an increase in the US debt limit would result in fewer teachers and more expensive college educations, the Biden administration warned Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plan to link spending cuts to an increase in the US debt limit would result in fewer teachers and more expensive college educations, the Biden administration warned Tuesday.
The Education Department estimated that the Republican proposal would cut $4 billion for low-income students, resulting in some 60,000 fewer teachers, according to a fact sheet obtained by Bloomberg News. The agency says that 7.5 million children with disabilities would lose funding, the equivalent of 48,000 fewer teachers.
McCarthy plans to put his proposal to a floor vote on Wednesday, although it isn’t clear whether he has the votes to pass it. Among those Republicans balking at the bill are moderates in districts won by President Joe Biden who are wary of the cuts to social programs. Biden on Tuesday announced his bid for a second term.
The legislation would not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, but it’s congressional Republicans’ official opening salvo in the debt negotiations as a market-rattling default nears.
For college students, the cut would lead to 80,000 fewer students receiving Pell Grant scholarships while 6.6 million Pell recipients would face a cut of $1,000 annually, the administration says. Another provision in the bill would cancel Biden’s student debt relief proposal, taking away up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for more than 40 million Americans.
The fact sheet is the latest in a campaign by the administration to explain what the abstract cuts in the McCarthy proposal would actually do if enacted.
The administration assumes Republicans would shield the Pentagon from its $130 billion in cuts to discretionary accounts, resulting in a 22% cut to domestic programs. While appropriators would have the ability to tailor the cuts, any program spared in one department would result in deeper cuts in others.
“The legislation Congressional Republicans have drafted is designed to avoid leveling with the American people about how these cuts would impact their lives,” White House Budget Director Shalanda Young wrote in a blog post last week. “This bill is vague by design — but that doesn’t obscure the fact that it will force devastating cuts that will hurt millions of people, damage our economy, and undermine our national security.”
McCarthy’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. The speaker has been working overtime to secure the votes he needs to pass the bill through the House this week.
If McCarthy passes the bill, he hopes to pressure Biden into fiscal talks ahead of a default on US payment obligations this summer which would ensue without an increase in the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Even if the debt ceiling fight is resolved without adopting budget cuts, House Republicans and the White House will still need to negotiate spending levels for the coming year by the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year or face the prospect of a separate government shutdown.
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