American politician, 55th Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesWASHINGTON — House Democrats who this week began a long-shot bid attempting to force a debt limit increase bill to the floor are pinning their hopes not just on a convoluted legislative gambit, but also on another highly improbable feat: getting a small group of Republicans to cross party lines and join them.
Democrats on Tuesday set in motion a plan that would allow them to bypass Republican leaders and bring up legislation to increase the debt ceiling without the spending cuts and policy changes the GOP has demanded in exchange. They could do so through a discharge petition, which forces a bill to the floor if a majority of the House signs on to calling for it.
But that could change if talks between McCarthy and Biden stall and the nation barrels toward a default, now projected as soon as June 1.The predicted red wave for Republicans never quite materialized in 2022. But in New York, the party routed Democrats, partly as a result of a haywire redistricting cycle, and six Republican candidates won election in congressional districts that had voted for Biden.
Valadao has cultivated a reputation for years of sometimes defying his party, including when he voted to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021 for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol. Complicating any Democratic efforts to recruit Valadao: He is a close ally of McCarthy, who helped protect him from a serious primary challenge after he voted for impeachment.
Neither man has given any indication that he would break from his party to raise the debt ceiling. But Fitzpatrick told E&E News that he voted for the House GOP bill — which conditioned a debt limit increase on spending cuts and policy changes — only because he knew it would never become law.