Mr. McCarthy’s allies moved to amend the 320-page bill during a late-night meeting of the House Rules Committee. The legislation raises the debt ceiling until May 2024 in exchange for slashing $4.8 trillion from federal spending by phasing in work requirements for social welfare programs and clawing back President Biden’s green energy tax credits.
Mr. McCarthy initially refused to accept amendments to the legislation because of time constraints. The speaker’s allies said the bill needed to pass before lawmakers left Washington at the end of April if Republicans had any hopes of starting negotiations with Mr. Biden. Apart from work requirements, Republicans were also divided on repealing the green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year as part of Mr. Biden’s $739 billion climate law.
At the moment, at least two Republicans are publicly opposed, while nearly 10 others are on the fence.