Speaker McCarthy faces big test as debt bill heads for vote

By LISA MASCARO
AP Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy is hurtling toward one of the most consequential weeks of the new House Republican majority. He is laboring to pass a partisan package that would raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep cuts some in his own party oppose. Votes are expected later this week. The political stakes are sky-high for McCarthy. He is trying to entice President Joe Biden to the negotiating table. The nation is teetering toward a debt default crisis, needing to lift the borrowing cap to keep paying the bills in a matter of weeks.