Republican Debt Limit Package -- Passage HR 2811

Passage of the bill, as amended, that would suspend the statutory limit on federal debt through March 31, 2024, or until an additional $1.5 trillion has been borrowed — whichever occurs first. It would also include a range of provisions to limit federal spending, as well as the text of a previously passed energy and permitting policy package. The bill would set base discretionary spending limits through fiscal 2033, capping spending for fiscal 2024 at the fiscal 2022 level of $1.47 trillion — a reduction from current spending levels — and raising the cap by 1 percent annually through fiscal 2033. It would also include similar annual cap adjustments for specified programs, including for wildfire suppression, disability reviews and redeterminations, health care fraud and abuse control, and disaster reemployment services and eligibility assessments. The bill would rescind unobligated amounts from various funds provided by the fiscal 2022 reconciliation package (PL 117-169) for COVID-19 relief, IRS enforcement, and certain climate- and infrastructure-focused initiatives, as well as all unobligated funding from the March 2021 coronavirus relief reconciliation package (PL 117-2) and earlier coronavirus response laws. The bill would expand or establish work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries aged 19 to 55 and raise from 49 to 55 the oldest age at which existing work requirements would apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beneficiaries. It would also modify various work standards for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, including to update the baseline for calculating certain state workforce participation standards and require states to collect certain data related to work outcomes for TANF participants. To limit regulatory spending, the bill would nullify pending executive actions suspending student loan payments and prohibit the Education Department from implementing any substantially similar actions without congressional approval. It would also establish a process to require congressional approval of all “major” federal rules that would have an annual impact of at least $100 million, cause a major increase in prices, or cause significant adverse effects to economic competitiveness. Among energy- and climate-focused provisions, the bill would repeal, phase out or narrow a variety of climate-focused tax credits under the fiscal 2022 reconciliation package, including repealing new credits for solar and wind projects, sustainable aviation fuel and clean fuel production. It would also include the full text of the House-passed energy and permitting package (HR 1) that would require a number of actions to boost the domestic production of fossil fuels and certain critical minerals and accelerate the construction of natural gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure, while reversing or repealing certain presidential actions taken and laws enacted during the Biden administration related to energy policy and climate change.