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SALT LAKE CITY — Although President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling through 2024, the future of the bill is somewhat murky after some members of both parties have objected to the deal.
But Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, said he supports the bill — which is expected to be voted on later Wednesday — saying it's the first time he'll be able to affirmatively vote on a measure to reduce federal spending, even if the compromise doesn't include every Republican ask.
"I ran on a few key principles," he told KSL NewsRadio's "Inside Sources" on Tuesday. "For me, it was: Make sure I'm there to support Hill Air Force Base. ... Be a part of reversing debt culture, and, of course, be an optimistic conservative voice for the next generation."
While he's voted against bills to increase spending as a member of the House minority, he said the debt ceiling bill is a "reduction in spending overall," and "something that reverses debt culture."
"Candidly, I've been in the minority party, and there's no real burden of governing when you're in the minority. It's probably one of the most simple things. You show up, you vote no, you complain about it. I did a lot of that. There were a lot of spending bills, and I voted no against the vast majority of them," he said. "And I'm proud of those votes, and I stick by them because debt and deficits, that's the most important thing to me. This is something that turns the coin and now that I'm in the majority, I get a chance to potentially support something.
"And that means a lot to me because I want to be active in this space and not just show up, vote no, complain, collect the government paycheck and move on," Moore said.
After Biden and other top Democrats called for a "clean increase" of the debt ceiling without any spending cuts, Moore called the concessions "historic." The bill includes a 1% cap on spending over the next two years, which will actually represent a decrease in spending due to the current high level of inflation.
Moore acknowledged that some members of his own party don't think the bill cuts spending enough, and said he expects to see a lot of "Republican-on-Republican violence" in the rhetoric over the next few days.
Utah's Republican senators are already split on the deal. Sen. Mike Lee has repeatedly excoriated the agreement on his personal Twitter account, calling it a "capitulation" and a "stunning success when it comes to uniting Democrats."
Sen. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, released a statement calling it a "good-faith bipartisan compromise," while acknowledging that it lacks entitlement reform he would have liked to see included.
Democrats currently control the White House and have a narrow Senate majority, making it all but impossible for Republicans to pass a plan of their own without compromising.
"The political reality is that Republicans have to win more elections if they want to get a stronger bill," Moore said. "So not everybody's going to end up voting for it, and they're complaining that we didn't get enough because it wasn't the same bill (the House) passed three weeks ago. That was never going to be signed into law and everybody knows that, and anybody who says otherwise is being disingenuous."
"This has to be signed by the president of the United States," he continued. "And this is where McCarthy landed, and I appreciate him sticking up for those of us that are so focused on spending to be able to get some really significant wins."
