Debt ceiling deal clears first hurdle and advances for debate | First Thing

The committee voted 7-6 to allow debate by the full chamber with expected vote on passage today. Plus, the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes

Good morning.

The bipartisan debt ceiling deal brokered by Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy passed an important hurdle yesterday evening, advancing to the full House of Representatives for debate and an expected vote on passage on Wednesday even amid opposition from far-right Republicans.

What has been said about the deal? Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have balked at the deal. Chip Roy of Texas, who in January played a key role in securing the speakership for McCarthy after 15 rounds of voting, amid a rightwing rebellion, had perhaps the most pungent response. He said the debt ceiling deal was a turd sandwich", because it did not include spending cuts demanded by the hard right.

What else has been said? Another rightwing firebrand, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said he anticipate[d] voting for" the bill, having said: I think it's important to keep in mind the debt limit bill itself does not spend money." But comparative moderate, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, resorted to personal abuse of Biden when she tweeted: Washington is broken. Republicans got outsmarted by a president who can't find his pants. I'm voting no on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn't worth selling out our kids and grandkids."

Who is Reade and what did she say Biden did? Now 59, Reade was a staffer for Biden when he was a US senator from Delaware. In 2020, as Biden ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, she claimed that in 1993, in a Senate corridor, he pushed her against a wall and assaulted her. Biden has repeatedly denied the accusation.