But McCarthy insists ‘95%’ will back bill

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday defended his tentative debtceiling deal with President Biden, claiming it has 95% of Republicans’ support and is a “step in the right direction.”

While the California Republican acknowledged making concessions to stop America from defaulting on its debt, he touted the agreement as an overwhelming success for the GOP, claiming it was the biggest spending cut for the IRS in US history and a major blow to Democrats.

“Maybe it doesn’t do everything for everyone, but this is a step in the right direction that no one thought that we would be able to today,” McCarthy told “Fox News Sunday” about the months of onand-off negotiations with Biden.

“I’ll debate this bill with anybody,” he added. “Is it everything I wanted? No, because we don’t control all of it. But it is the biggest rescission in history. It is the biggest cut Congress has ever voted for in that process.”

While the exact provisions of the deal have yet to be released, McCarthy previously said “it has historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty into the workforce, rein in government overreach, there are no new taxes [and] no new government programs.”

McCarthy is expected to deliver the bill’s final language to the House 72 hours after he and Biden hammered out the tentative deal Saturday.

McCarthy insisted Sunday that “more than 95% of all those in the [Republican] conference were very excited.”

Like McCarthy, Biden said the deal represents a series of compromises that will likely have overwhelming support from Congress.

“The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want,” Biden said. “That’s the responsibility of governing.”