House Passes GOP Debt Ceiling Legislation

House lawmakers narrowly passed [217-215] Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) Limit, Save, Grow Act (text; summary) as House Republican leaders look to place pressure on President Biden to come to the negotiating table on the debt ceiling.

The House GOP legislation — which would raise the debt limit to March 31, 2024, in exchange for a host of budgetary and policy priorities — is dead-on-arrival in the Democratic Senate. However, the bill itself could be utilized as a “shell” legislative vehicle for a potential bipartisan deal in the Senate should one come to fruition.

• What’s next? Lawmakers are expected to receive additional clarity from Treasury on when the “X date” will fall. News reports suggest that Secretary Janet Yellen will provide the update by the end of this week or next — a move that will dictate how quickly leadership moves to try and reach a bipartisan agreement. Meanwhile, an analysis from Goldman Sachs yesterday suggests that the drop-dead date for raising the debt ceiling will fall into July due to a surge in tax collections around the April 18 tax filing deadline.

• On the floor… Both chambers will gavel in for legislative business after receiving a joint address to Congress from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at 11 AM ET. For today, House lawmakers will hold a final up-or-down vote on a resolution that would direct the president to remove armed forces from Somalia. In the Senate, procedural votes have been scheduled on a resolution that would allow the Equal Rights Amendment to be added to the U.S. Constitution, as well as on Anthony Johnstone’s nomination to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.