Hardline Republicans reject Trump’s debt ceiling demand, focused on deficit worry

By Steve Holland and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican hardliners who normally are ardent supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are resisting his push to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, sticking to their belief that government spending needs to be pruned and defying his warnings of revenge.

Some 38 House of Representatives Republicans voted against a debt ceiling bill Trump demanded, showing the limits of his grip on the party, a month before he takes office on Jan. 20.

It was the first time that Congress had been asked to vote on a Trump priority since his election. While some of his Cabinet picks have drawn some Republican criticism, those who dropped out of consideration — notably former congressman Matt Gaetz — did so on their own accord.

But Trump’s call to suspend limits on borrowing — at a time the federal government’s debt exceeds $36 trillion — runs against long-voiced Republican concerns about fiscal profligacy in Washington. 

“Suspending the debt ceiling entirely at this point would allow Congress to add an unlimited amount of debt to our already $36 trillion national debt for two years, with no reforms to rein in reckless spending,” said Republican Representative Nancy Mace, one of the 38 who voted against the bill, which was also meant to avert a partial government shutdown that will begin on Saturday without Congressional action.

Trump has prioritized more tax cuts in his second term, which tax experts say could add another $4 trillion to the U.S. debt over the next decade. He has tapped Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to identify ways to cut government spending.

Most of the Republicans who voted down Thursday’s bill come from safely conservative districts in states including West Virginia, South Carolina, Utah, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Trump has threatened to support candidates who mount primary challenges to them in the 2026 midterm elections.

“Republican obstructionists have to be done away with,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

He doubled down on his demand on Friday, asking a House that rejected a two-year suspension of the limit to lift it for five years.

Hardline Republican Representative Chip Roy, who denounced the debt ceiling plan in a fiery Thursday night speech on the House floor, told reporters he would not support lifting the debt ceiling increase without seeing a specific plan for spending cuts to offset it.

“That’s a non-starter for me. If I lose that, that’s fine. I can go home and be happy and content,” Roy said.

Congress adopted a limit on the amount of money the government can borrow in 1939, aiming to stem the rise of government’s debt. It has not achieved its purpose, with debt soaring, fueled by Democratic-backed spending, Republican-backed tax cuts and the spiraling cost of the Social Security retirement program.

But it has been the periodic focus of Washington brinkmanship, subjecting the nation to the risk of a potentially catastrophic default that would shake global markets.

Thursday’s failure upped the pressure on Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who leads a fractious and narrow majority and has often had to rely on Democratic votes to pass key pieces of legislation. Republicans will have an even smaller majority — initially 219-215 — when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3 and lawmakers will decide whether to reelect Johnson as their leader.

Johnson on Friday was struggling to plot a way forward as an at least temporary government shutdown looked increasingly likely.

Another one of the 38, Representative Kat Cammack, said her opposition to the revised spending bill was “not an easy vote for a number of reasons, but namely, the debt ceiling.”