As public pressure grows to avert an economic crisis, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said a handful of Republicans in swing districts will face enormous pressure to pass a clean debt limit increase, through a legislative maneuver known as a “discharge petition.”
But Van Hollen told Yahoo News in an interview that he believes Republicans are too fractured and have too small a House majority to reach a unified negotiating position.
“As we get closer and closer to this cliff, and people recognize the disaster that will be faced by the American people if we go over it, there are going to be some of those Republican members that are going to really be pushed hard to sign that discharge petition,” said Van Hollen in an interview. In essence, Washington is too relaxed at this point about the debt ceiling for it to become clear which House Republicans might join Democrats to pass an increase. Because the debt ceiling has always been raised in the past, there is a sense of complacency among politicians and business leaders who believe the two parties will eventually reach a deal.
It is possible that House Republicans figure out what they want to negotiate toward and unify their slim majority around a clear position from which to negotiate. But at the moment, the House GOP is fractured between a multitude of voices calling for different things. Some want to cut Social Security and Medicare, while others — including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — say no way. Some Republicans want to cut defense spending, and others are adamantly opposed.
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