Iowa Republicans vote for debt ceiling deal after GOP leaders relent on ethanol cuts

Iowa's four Republican congressional members who were holding up their leadership's debt-ceiling bill because it stripped out biofuel tax credits agreed to vote for the legislation Wednesday afternoon after those credits were restored.

The bill narrowly passed, 217-215, setting up a potential showdown with President Joe Biden.

Four conservative Republicans voted no: Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Ken Buck of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida.

But Iowa's delegation helped provide the vital votes to push it to approval.

“The biofuels industry drives the Iowa economy and is vital to our nation's energy security. We are proud to deliver a major victory for this industry and our whole state in these negotiations," delegation members Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra said in a joint statement.

“Since this proposal was unveiled, our delegation has stood united for Iowa’s farmers and producers fighting to amend the bill to protect biofuels tax credits. Having successfully amended the bill to protect funding for these tax credits, our delegation will vote for this legislation, which is a starting point to avoid a default and cut wasteful spending."

An earlier version of the plan, spearheaded by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, would have eliminated tax credits on biodiesel production and blending, as well as sales and use of low-carbon biofuels like ethanol. It also would have scaled back a tax credit program aimed at carbon sequestration pipelines for ethanol plants.

The programs were extended or created as part of 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, a Democrat-approved plan from Biden that directed new federal spending toward climate, health care and tax programs.

Republicans have sought to roll back several major line items in that law, calling them excessive spending and expansion of government.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Gov. Kim Reynolds praise Iowa delegation for holding up bill to restore tax credits

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley praised the House delegation on a call with Iowa reporters Wednesday.

"You've got to read the whole bill, but at least this provision, it sounds to me like they got a major victory for Iowa, for agriculture and for the 43,000 jobs that are in ethanol and biofuels part of our economy," Grassley said.

But Iowa's senior senator declined to comment further, saying significant changes could arise through possible future negotiations with the White House.

"I think we have to see how that comes out before I make any further comments," Grassley said. "This is a long way from getting to the president for a signature."

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds also thanked the state's House members in a statement, complimenting their "steadfast efforts to stand up for biofuels."

"Their commitment helped protect an industry that contributes over $6 billion to Iowa’s economy and accounts for over 60% of Iowa’s corn," Reynolds said. "I want to thank Speaker McCarthy for working with the delegation to find a compromise that continues the conversation while recognizing the importance of biofuels to our country.”

Iowa is the nation’s leading producer of ethanol and biofuels, producing more than 4 billion gallons of ethanol and 349 million gallons of biodiesel in 2022. According to a February report from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, the industry supported more than 57,000 Iowa jobs and accounted for nearly $7.2 billion of Iowa’s GDP.

Where negotiations stand on Republican bill to cut spending, raise debt ceiling

Debate on the debt ceiling proposal has intensified in recent weeks, with Congress on the clock to raise the ceiling before the U.S. government defaults, or runs out of money to pay bills.

That could happen in around a month, according to current projections. But significant obstacles remain, given that control on Capitol Hill is divided between the two parties.

McCarthy, with a narrow five-seat majority in the House, struggled to guarantee enough support to push the Republican-led bill through a vote.

The plan, which includes more than $4.5 trillion in cuts to federal spending, ran into resistance from the Iowa delegation, other Midwestern Republicans and hardline conservatives who wanted to attach strict work requirements to social safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.

McCarthy and House Republicans' new plan has virtually zero chance of becoming law as it faces a Democrat-controlled Senate and Democratic president. Biden has said he will not negotiate a plan that raises the debt ceiling while also cutting federal spending, accusing Republicans of "hostage-taking."

McCarthy hopes the proposal's passage will prompt Biden to open negotiations with Republicans. The president has said he would talk about budget decisions once the GOP passes a plan but prefers to negotiate spending cuts and the debt ceiling separately.

Brianne Pfannenstiel and USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa GOP delegation votes for debt-ceiling deal after concessions