Top Senate Republicans coalesce around McCarthy after he unveils debt limit proposal

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Kevin McCarthy explains his plan to raise the debt ceiling

House speaker Kevin McCarthy discusses how President Joe Biden has yet to work on the debt ceiling with him and what the GOP has accomplished so far on ‘Hannity.’

Top Senate Republicans are coalescing around House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., after the GOP leader announced his chamber would be moving forward with a bill to raise the debt limit and cut back on spending.

"If the House can transact something that does something about spending and debt and has reforms in it, I think that's something that obviously we're very supportive of here," Senate GOP Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital.

House Republicans have indicated that they will have a bill ready next week, the details of which are still unclear. McCarthy revealed during an address to Wall Street on Monday that the legislation aims to lift the debt ceiling for a year while also capping discretionary spending at fiscal year 2022 levels.

The bill would need 218 votes to pass the House, meaning moderate Republicans in purple districts would have to sign off on legislation along with hardliners with ruby red constituencies.

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers a speech on the economy at the New York Stock Exchange in New York on April 17, 2023. (Timothy A. Clary)

Still, multiple GOP senators indicated to Fox News Digital that they were glad McCarthy has presented some kind of plan and say the onus is now on President Biden to join the Speaker at the negotiating table.

Thune, a top deputy of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he had spoken with McCarthy about the framework as well as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and said the pair "feel good about the conversations they’re having" with members about passing it.

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"I give them credit for trying to get something across the finish line, because if they can move something across the floor of the House, I think it changes the conversation entirely, and forces the Biden administration to actually come to the table and negotiate. Whereas right now, they're just, you know, they're just trying to run out the clock," Thune said.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said, "I am hopeful that [McCarthy] will be able to get a bill through the House, and we'll be able to take a look at it at that."

He declined to comment on specific proposals McCarthy raised, however, but said "getting a bill completed would be a huge accomplishment."

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that he has spoken with McCarthy about his debt limit proposal. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

"I think it's a great step in the right direction, I just hope we can find someone in the White House that’s willing to negotiate," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a counselor to the Senate GOP leadership team. He did not say whether he thought the debt limit framework would get 218 votes in the House. "That’s why the Speaker is the Speaker," he offered instead.

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Biden and McCarthy have traded public barbs over the debt limit standoff but have not actually sat down to discuss it since early February. The president has so far refused to negotiate spending cuts with Republicans in the context of the debt ceiling, and argues the debt ceiling should be increased without any condition.

As expected, the Senate’s fiscally conservative hardliners are pleased with McCarthy’s proposals to slash spending.

"I'm backing him 100% on whatever they come up with, because we obviously need some type of fiscal discipline," said Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind. "I think the Senate is going to wait and see what they do, and we'll support them as Republicans because he's got a tough thing to craft there with not a lot of margin for error."

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, praised McCarthy for unveiling a proposal but would not comment on the specifics.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who told Fox News Digital that he’d been meeting with the conservative House Freedom Caucus to discuss the debt limit talks, said of McCarthy, "I think it's important, first of all, for the Biden administration to start engaging – it's hard to do it on his own. And I'm glad he cares about it."

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Scott did not comment directly on McCarthy’s plan but praised the budget proposal put out by the Freedom Caucus earlier this year, which among other measures sought to cap non-defense discretionary spending at FY2022 levels for a decade.

"I think it's important whatever we do, we actually have real structural change, we get people back to work. So I think some of the things they're talking about make all the sense in the world. So I'm going to continue to work with them, we’ve got to figure out how to do this in a responsible manner," Scott said.