Johnson Vows Debt Ceiling Will Be Part of Reconciliation Package

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday that he intends to include a suspension of the nation’s borrowing limit in the upcoming reconciliation package, avoiding the need for a protracted negotiation with Democrats.

“That way, as the party in charge — of both chambers — we get to determine the details … of the process,” Johnson said, adding, “We feel like we are in better stead to do it ourselves.”

But with that, the speaker acknowledged that there is a “broad range of opinion” on the debt ceiling question, even within his own conference.

“There is a question of whether we do it as a stand-alone or as part of the appropriations process, and we are working through that,” Johnson said.

This past weekend the members of the Republican Conference met for a retreat at which there were a series of “white board sessions” at which the party’s agenda was laid out for the next conference.

Johnson said he expected there to be additional “lengthy” and “deliberate” white board sessions in the days ahead to hash out differences on how to approach the suspension of the debt ceiling.

“This is something I look forward to,” he said. “I love this process of churning it out amongst our colleagues.

“People come to the table with great skill sets, life experiences, and deep, principled positions. It’s a healthy thing to have that debate in the tent and come to solutions and consensus together,” he said.

“People feel like they have a sense of ownership in it when they do that,” he added.

He’ll need that buy-in. 

Though Johnson tried to put the best face possible on the start of the 119th Congress, talking about the “excitement” and desire to “hit the ground running” among Republican members, despite the “the snow and wind and winter drama,” the reality is reaching an agreement within his conference is going to be difficult.

Late last month, a total of 38 House Republicans voted against the continuing resolution that’s currently keeping the government’s lights on, precisely because it included a two-year suspension of the debt limit, something President-elect Donald Trump demanded be included.

At the moment, it appears the biggest faction he has to appease is that of the budget hawks — a group that includes members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, but others as well — who have indicated they intend to stand by demands for deep spending cuts in exchange for their vote on the debt limit.

“That’s what we’ll be devoting our time, leadership time, to in the coming days and weeks,” Johnson said. “Just to make sure that everybody is on the same page.

“The debt limit, among all of the issues before us, is probably one of the most important that we have to deal with,” he continued.

“But I want to emphasize, every time that this issue comes up, that our intention and our mission as the Republican majority in the House and the Senate, is to reduce the size and scope of government and to reduce spending in a meaningful way,” he said.

The goal, Johnson said, is “restore fiscal sanity and get our country back on the right track.”

“Raising the debt limit is a necessary step to that, so that we don’t give the appearance we are going to default in some way on the nation’s debt — that’s important to the bond markets, to the stability of the dollar, and the rest.

“But that does not mean we have any intention whatsoever — or will tolerate — spending up to the new debt limit,” Johnson said. “The idea is to do the opposite.

“While [suspending the debt ceiling] is almost a pro forma step that must be taken, the commitment at the same time is to reduce spending and not to spend more,” he said.

Later, Johnson was asked if Republicans see entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare as ripe for the kind of cuts he’s envisioning.

“The president[-elect] has made clear Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved,” the speaker said in response.

“No one is coming in with the intention of cutting benefits in any way,” Johnson said. “We have to look at all spending and look at it deliberately while maintaining those commitments. The Republican Party is not going to cut benefits, we’ve made that clear over and over again. That’s the commitment of the White House and that’s the commitment of this Republican Conference.

“We do know, however, that at the same time, there are many, many areas of fraud, waste and abuse,” the speaker continued. “The government is too large, there are too many agencies, and they have too many divisions and employees … and there will be a very deliberate auditing as we go through this process.

“The [White House] DOGE initiative will be going on simultaneously and we will be dovetailing our efforts together,” he said.

“Our intention by the end of this Congress is to show the American people that we brought the government back down to a measurable state, and that it works more efficiently and effectively for the people,” Johnson said. “The way you do that is to get back to the original intent and the primary roles of the federal government. That role has simply been expanded too much in recent years.”

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue