We May Be About to Find Out How This Republican Party Really Works

If the debt ceiling deal between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy wins congressional approval, it will tell us a lot about what this Republican Party cares about and how it really works. And it will have proved something important about which lines Democrats can hold and which ones they can’t.

The deal Biden and McCarthy struck is a modest package of spending nips and safety-net tucks. Some of the policy is stupid (like cutting funding for I.R.S. enforcement) and some of it is cruel (like adding work requirements for some older adults who need food stamps) but what is most surprising about the package is its size. It’s about a $69 billion cut to spending next year and a $112 billion cut in 2025, with no significant budget caps or automatic cuts kicking in after two years. It leaves Biden’s major achievements, from the Inflation Reduction Act to student loan cancellation, intact.