美国国家公共电台 NPR--Republicans hope McCarthy's bill gives him leverage in debt ceiling standoff

Republicans hope McCarthy's bill gives him leverage¹ in debt ceiling standoff

Transcript²

With the clock ticking on the debt ceiling debate, House Republicans have narrowly passed a bill that they hope will bring President Biden to the negotiating table.

The bill would raise the debt ceiling while cutting federal spending — things Democrats³ are vehemently⁴ opposed to linking — and threatens to unravel⁵ parts of Biden's domestic agenda.

It's not likely to advance further, since Senate Democrats have labeled key provisions "nonstarters" and the White House says Biden would veto it.

But it could increase pressure on Biden to start talking about compromises, since neither party wants to default on the national debt. Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy haven't had an extended discussion about it since February. Biden and the White House have insisted that raising the debt limit be kept separate from talks about spending cuts.

So far, the White House is holding firm.

McCarthy has a fair amount of leverage at this point, says Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University.

"He's now put forth⁶ a pretty big package of spending cuts and that becomes the focus of the debate," Zelizer explains. "They're specific spending cuts, and so now Biden has this in front of him and it's more than an amorphous⁷ discussion.

Democrats argue that raising the debt ceiling — in order to avoid defaulting, which could sink the U.S. economy and roil⁸ global financial markets — shouldn't be subject to partisan⁹ politics, and that they shouldn't have to make concessions¹⁰ to Republicans just to finance spending they've already committed.

Zelizer agrees with that argument, but says as long as Republicans are willing to follow through, there's a potential for a default unless Biden takes "extraordinary measures," like using the 14th amendment¹¹ to pay the government's bills.

"If he's not willing to do that, he doesn't have as much leverage, I think, as some Democrats hope," he adds. " And he might have to concede to some of these spending cuts to get the bill through."

Zelizer spoke¹² with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep about the recent precedents¹³ and power dynamics¹⁴ at play.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

That's been clear from day one, that the caucus¹⁵ controls him rather than him leading the caucus. They have made it crystal clear that this debt ceiling fight is serious and that they're willing to go through with the ultimate threat of not raising the debt ceiling. And so McCarthy doesn't have much wiggle room not to listen to them at this point.

On what Biden can learn from the 2011 debt ceiling standoff

[President Barack] Obama made concessions on spending cuts in the end, and so I think we might see a replay of that. I don't know how far Biden is willing to go. This caucus is even more radicalized than the caucus in 2011, so I think the situation is even more fraught¹⁶ than it was in 2011.

On whether Biden could keep refusing to negotiate

He could get involved in one of these faceoffs and hope that the Republicans back down, or more importantly, hope that somehow Senator [Mitch] McConnell comes to the rescue, that somehow within the Republican party that the Senate starts to apply pressure on the House somehow, through carrots and sticks, to back down. But at this point there's no sign that McConnell is going to do that, so if Biden wants to take that step he can, but the risks are very high.

On deeper political significance of the fight

[Biden] can also think of ways around this. But the problem is this shouldn't be something that becomes at the center of these partisan battles from the Republican party, and that's really what the crisis is at this point.

1 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

5 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 amorphous   

adj.无定形的

参考例句：

• There was a weakening of the intermolecular bonds,primarily in the amorphous region of the polymer.分子间键合减弱，尤其在聚合物的无定形区内更为明显。
• It is an amorphous colorless or white powder.它是一种无定形的无色或白色粉末。

8 roil   

v.搅浑，激怒

参考例句：

• Times of national turmoil generally roil a country's financial markets.在国家动荡不安的时代，该国的金融市场一般都会出现混乱。
• Some of her habits are off-putting but don't let them roil you.她的一些习惯让人恶心，但最好别烦你。

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 precedents   

引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例

参考例句：

• There is no lack of precedents in this connection. 不乏先例。
• He copied after bad precedents. 他仿效恶例。

14 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

15 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

16 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！