McCarthy not so sure he can get McCarthy debt plan passed

On Monday, Barely Speaker Kevin McCarthy and team vowed there would be no changes to the debt ceiling and spending cuts package before it came to the floor this week. But in the very early hours of Wednesday, the Rules Committee made changes to the bill that McCarthy and his team spent hours negotiating with holdouts behind closed doors.

So much for McCarthy’s promise to the American people when he finally won the speakership after five grueling days of votes. “No longer will the doors be closed, but the debates will be open for you to witness what happens in the people’s House. From the committee rooms to this floor, we commit to pursue the truth passionately and embrace debate.”

McCarthy bowed to pressure from the very hard right, as usual, and made the package more cruel to low-income people with stricter work requirements for safety net programs. He caved to a group of farm-state Republicans, and removed the part of the bill that repealed ethanol and biofuel tax credits.