Florida GOP defections on debt deal means Democratic votes will be required for passage

Florida's congressional Republicans splintered with their leadership Tuesday over a $4 trillion compromise deal to lift the country's debt ceiling and avoid an economically disastrous debt default as early as next week.

The defections by at least a handful of Florida GOP members means that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will need Democratic votes to gain approval for the measure, something that has long been expected and speculated. But it could also mean the speaker lacks enough GOP support to even bring the measure to a vote in the full House of Representatives.

McCarthy and the chamber's razor-thin GOP majority needs a simple majority — 218 votes — to approve the deal agreed to with President Joe Biden over Memorial Day weekend. But a key Florida Republican opposing the pact, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, on Tuesday insisted the speaker also needs 112 Republicans to support the measure before it can even be brought to a vote in the U.S. House.

All this while the clock keeps ticking toward a potential financial disaster. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week moved the estimated drop dead date for a default from this Thursday to next Monday, June 5.

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Who's on board with Biden-McCarthy debt deal? Who's against it?

In Florida, U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, a Jacksonville Republican, said he would support the debt compromise. Rutherford lauded the accord for reducing year-over-year spending as well as non-defense discretionary dollars.

But in the adjacent district to his south, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a St. Augustine Beach Republican, said he will vote against the pact because it "doesn't go far enough" in cutting spending.

At the other end of the peninsula, Naples GOP U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds was also a no-vote and added he wants to see U.S. federal spending pared back to pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Just to his north on Interstate 75, U.S. Rep Vern Buchanan on Tuesday evening said he, too, opposed the debt deal.

Earlier, U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a Sanford Republican, also came out in opposition to the measure.

"This Biden-McCarthy Debt bill is NOT what we signed," Mills wrote on Twitter. "I oppose the new deal and refuse to saddle Americans with $4 (trillion) in additional debt."

Other "no" votes came from freshman U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican, as well as Pensacola's Gaetz, who boasted on Twitter that he is among the "only Republicans in Congress who have never voted to raise" the country's debt limit.

In a news interview Tuesday, Gaetz stated McCarthy actually needs 112 Republican votes to bring the measure to the floor in accordance with one of the concessions he agreed to in January as he sought enough support to win the speakership.

Gaetz said if McCarthy were to move the legislation without a "majority of the majority" in support it would amount to a "black letter violation" and "would likely trigger an immediate motion" to remove him from the speakership.

Another no emerged on Tuesday afternoon when Gainesville Republican Kat Cammack said she will oppose the measure.

"Absolutely no one wants to default but this current deal is unacceptable," Cammack posted on Twitter. "I have read this bill twice and as the language currently stands, I will be voting no to raise the debt ceiling."

How many Democrats will need to assure debt ceiling approval?

It was always expected that passage of a debt ceiling agreement would need to be a solid bipartisan effort. But with Florida's GOP defections, that's now a numerical requirement in order for the agreement to garner the necessary number of votes.

The question now is how many more House Republicans will part ways with leadership, and how many Democrats will step in to fill the void.

Some like U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican, said they are "evaluating" the provisions in the measure. Mast said every member of Congress needs to ask whether capping spending and "a one-year hiring freeze for 87,000 IRS agents" is worth ending the negotiations at this point.

It appears one South Florida congressional Democrat was leaning toward voting yes.

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick told a South Florida news station that she had concerns about added requirements to qualify for federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits as well as restoring student loan repayments.

But, still, she said as long as Social Security, Medicare and veterans assistance were protected, she said the deal "meets our needs."

Florida's congressional delegation is overwhelmingly Republican, counting 20 GOP members to the Democrat's 8. The first hurdle for the debt ceiling legislation will be approval from the House rules committee. No Florida congressional representatives serve on that panel.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Palm Beach Post reporter Stephany Matat contributed to this story.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Debt ceiling: Florida Republicans break with McCarthy, will vote no