Kevin McCarthy says Dems complaining there’s nothing in the debt ceiling bill ‘for them’

In response to Bream asking what conversations are like with Jeffries and how they are working to get enough votes to pass the increase, McCarthy said, "I know when I became speaker, I wanted Congress to work differently. So I wanted to treat Hakeem the way I wanted to be treated."

"So I talked to Hakeem every single week. We could disagree about things but I just want to know what we'll work on," he continued. "Everything doesn't have to be political. But in every time that there is an agreement and negotiation between the President and Congress, both parties when they have an agreement come together and vote for the bill because both of them talk about it. I don't work with McCain to say oh, I need these many votes. I think you're gonna get a majority of Republicans voting for this bill. This is a good bill for the American public."

"The President agreed with his bill. So I still think there are going to be a lot of Democrats that vote for it right now," he concluded.

An initial agreement was reached to raise the debt ceiling on Saturday evening after President Biden had a 90-minute call with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

McCarthy touted in the interview that lawmakers "finally were able to cut spending." He continued, "We're the first Congress to vote for cutting spending year over year. So you cut that back. You fully fund the veterans you fully fund defense, but you take that non-defense spending all the way back lower than 22 levels."

"We were able to do this when the President said he wasn't even going to talk to us," McCarthy added. "This is really a step in the right direction. It puts us on a trajectory that's different. We put a statutory cap on only spending 1% For the next six years. So we let government grow but at a slower rate."