Speaker McCarthy faces big test as debt bill heads for vote

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.