Debt ceiling deadline: Who is Kevin McCarthy? What’s his role as Speaker of the House?

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (CA-R) is central to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. In control of the only chamber of Congress where the Republican party forms the majority, he is the highest-ranking GOP leader in any position to make demands of Democrats.

What is Speaker McCarthy’s role in the debt ceiling negotiations?

Not only is the majority Republicans hold in the House slim (222-213), but it is also divided, which the public saw firsthand during the 12+ votes it took to elect Rep. McCarthy as Speaker. Some members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus have called for no additional increases to the debt ceiling, but during these negotiations, the group seems to have softened its position. Speaker McCarthy’s confidence that a deal could be reached as soon as this week indicates that he trusts his caucus would approve the deal reached with the White House.

President Biden is confident a deal can be reached.

Speaker McCarthy told Fox News that he is pleased that the White House appointed two negotiators to meet with congressional staff to hammer out a deal. However, he also said that he is worried about the timeline since whatever is agreed to will still need approval from both chambers of Congress.

During this entire process, the role of McCarthy and other congressional leaders is to identify the must-haves and the red lines for his caucus. McCarthy can only lose four votes, and if the White House rejects his proposal, he will need to either convince his members that the deal is still strong or negotiate with House Democrats.

What demands is the Speaker making?

The Speaker has pointed to the bill passed by the Republican caucus, the “Limit, Save, Grow” act, as an indication of the types of measure they hope to see reflected in their agreement with the White House. A major component of the “Limit, Save, Grow” nullifies key clean and renewable energy tax credits and benefits included in the Inflation Reduce Act. The White House has drawn a redline around the IRA, saying that they will not approve any changes to its implementation.

Work requirements seem to be one place where there is some agreement. Nevertheless, the fact that most social assistance programs in the US already have work requirements in place for people without a disability or caretaking roles means it won’t really put a major dent in the debt. McCarthy has the difficult task of negotiating with his members and the White House, and some, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, believe that the Speaker does not have the votes within his caucus to pass an increase. If Speaker McCarthy needs Democrats to sign on to get the legislation passed before Day X, his leverage to demand any substantive changes to social spending decreases enormously.

A bit about Kevin McCarthy

The Speaker represents California’s 20th Congressional District, which sits in the Central Valley and comprises parts of Kern, Tulare, Kings, and Fresno counties. McCarthy was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006 after serving in the California State Legislature for two years.

A Bakersfield native, McCarthy attended the California State University situated there and, in 1989, earned a Bachelors of Science in marketing and, later, in 1994, a Masters of Business Adminstration. Instead of entering the private sector, McCarthy got a job staffing Congressman Bill Thomas, who he had begun working for in 1987 when he was still in college. The Speaker would stay in Representative Thomas’ office until he decided to run for public office himself in the early 2000s.

When McCarthy made his way to Washington, he was quickly absorbed into Republican leadership. He became House Republican Chief Deputy Whip in 2009 after he secured his reelection. Then, in 2011, McCarthy took over the official position and served as House Majority Whip until 2014, when he became the House Majority Leader. The role of Majority Leader is currently held by Steve Scalise (R-LA).