House passes GOP debt limit bill, as McCarthy tries to draw Biden into negotiations

WASHINGTON — A Republican bill to raise the debt limit and slash government funding passed the House on Wednesday, after 11th hour changes won over a group of holdouts within the GOP caucus.

The final tally was 217-215. Four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against their party’s signature piece of legislation.

The vote was a victory for embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., capping off a 24-hour sprint that saw party leaders work past 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning to amend the bill.

The last-minute revisions included a rescue for ethanol and biofuel tax credits, which were set to be eliminated under the original bill. The prospect of losing the tax breaks infuriated a bloc of Republicans from Iowa and nearby states, who threatened to sink the bill unless McCarthy agreed to preserve the tax breaks, which he did.

Another bloc of conservatives demanded that McCarthy revise the bill to speed up implementation of new work requirements for adults who receive food stamps or Medicaid benefits. McCarthy also agreed to that demand.

With a margin of just four Republican votes for the bill to pass along party lines, McCarthy could not afford to lose either bloc’s support.

Still, the amendments rankled some rank-and-file members of the GOP caucus, because they came after McCarthy had prohibited members from introducing their own amendments, and insisted the bill in its original form was final and not up for discussion.

The Limit, Save and Grow Act has little to no chance of becoming law, which could help to explain why Republicans were ultimately willing to overlook McCarthy’s last minute, backroom deals.

Instead of viewing the provisions in the 320-page bill as future laws, per se, House Republicans view the plan more as a symbolic opening bid in the negotiations McCarthy will hold with President Joe Biden later this year…