House passes McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill by two votes, four Republicans vote against

House Republican negotiators have been meeting with defecting members through Tuesday and early Wednesday to get the votes necessary to pass the bill.

Republicans cast the vote as a win that puts them in the driver's seat in negotiations they hope can happen with President Biden in the coming weeks. Biden has refused to entertain anything other than a clean increase in the debt ceiling, while Republicans insist he should agree to some trimming in the federal budget as a condition of raising the government's borrowing limit. Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital. 

"If President Biden's got a better idea, it's long past time he puts those ideas on the table," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Wednesday on the House floor. "This is not a problem you run and hide from. In fact, when you asked to be president of the United States, you're the commander in chief. You're the leader of the free world… This is not a job where you run and hide from the tough things. These are the moments where you step up."