Chip Roy blasts Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal as ‘turd-sandwich’ – The Hill

Conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) blasted the tentative debt deal struck by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden as a “turd-sandwich” and pushed back on McCarthy’s claim that “more than 95 percent of all those in the conference were very excited” about the deal.

“1st – the leadership playbook is to line up cheerleading on phone calls to demonstrate ‘unity.’ 2nd, not 95% – I know of more no’s than that already. 3rd – they haven’t been educated yet on what a turd-sandwich this ‘deal’ is. They will be,” Roy tweeted in response to McCarthy’s earlier comment on “Fox News Sunday.” 

Roy also pushed back on the Republican argument that Democrats got nothing from the deal. The deal, struck Saturday between McCarthy and Biden, would raise the debt ceiling for two years and cap spending in order to avert a national default. It includes no budget caps after 2025 and makes certain adjustments to work requirements for certain government assistance programs. 

The conservative Texas lawmaker additionally argued on Twitter that the agreement included “basically no cuts” by freezing spending levels and was critical the deal did not accomplish more. He also said the deal failed to eliminate the clean energy tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act, did not include work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and did not address border security – which Roy argued “will remove all leverage we have to force action on the border.” He also criticized the deal for leaving in place most of the funding for the IRS. 

Roy joined a chorus of conservative Republicans taking to social media to rail against the deal in principle and is pushing back against McCarthy’s embrace of the deal as a victory for the GOP.

“We’re going to try” to stop the bill from passing, Roy tweeted earlier Sunday.

McCarthy, meanwhile, tweeted Sunday that it was “a new day in Congress.”

“Republicans are changing the direction of Washington with a responsible debt limit that cuts spending, re-establishes work requirements, and claws back tens of billions in unspent COVID funds,” McCarthy added.

Text for the bill is expected to be released Sunday afternoon and the measure still needs to pass both the House and the Senate in order to avert a national default.