Mace flips to yes on debt ceiling bill

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) announced Wednesday that she will support her party’s debt-ceiling package, shedding her opposition late in the debate and putting Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a step closer to moving the bill through the House this week.

Mace did not win the specific changes to the bill that she’d been clamoring for all week, which pertained to clean-energy subsidies and balancing the budget long term. But she said McCarthy has vowed to work with her on separate legislation in the future to reduce the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt, and that promise was enough to flip her vote. 

“I feel heard by the Speaker, and I will support the debt-ceiling vote today because he listened to my concerns, he’s willing to work with us on our concerns about balancing the budget, and that was meaningful, it was productive, and I believe it’s going to be fruitful in the near future,” Mace said as she left a meeting with McCarthy in the Speaker’s office.

The development was welcome news for McCarthy and other GOP leaders, who have struggled to win the Republican support for their debt-ceiling package and are scrambling to pass the bill before week’s end. 

With no Democrats expected to support the package, McCarthy can afford to lose only a handful of Republicans. At a closed-door meeting of the GOP conference in the Capitol basement Wednesday morning, at least one lawmaker, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), said he’s a hard no. And a handful of others, including Mace, said they were leaning that way.  

The stakes are high, and approving the legislation, even without Democratic support, would lend Republicans some political momentum and policy ammunition heading into the debt-limit fight with President Biden. A failure to do so would diminish their leverage and give Biden the clear upper hand. 

The Republicans’ legislation proposes $4.8 trillion in cuts to federal programs as a condition for raising the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or through March of 2024, whichever comes first. Biden has called for a “clean” debt-ceiling increase, without extraneous provisions, and is refusing to entertain budget cuts as part of the debt-limit debate. A failure to lift the Treasury’s borrowing cap would result in the first default in U.S. history. 

Mace has spent much of the last week vowing to vote against the GOP legislation, aiming her criticisms in two different directions. First, she opposes the cuts to tax credits for wind and solar, which affect her district disproportionately. And second, she says the Republican bill doesn’t cut spending deeply enough to reduce the national debt. 

After huddling with McCarthy, however, she says she’s on board. What exactly was promised, however, remains vague. 

“I appreciate his time today, and also giving us an opportunity to work with his office on what balancing the budget — whether it’s a balanced budget amendment — what that looks like in the future,” she said. 

Mace’s announcement came shortly after another holdout, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), also said he would support the legislation. 

Other GOP lawmakers, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Victoria Spartz (Ind.), have declined to say how they intend to vote. 

Despite the lingering uncertainty, Republican leaders have expressed confidence that they’ll pass the bill in the coming days, and perhaps as early as Wednesday afternoon.

Updated at 2:59 p.m.