Conservative GOP House members cause gridlock over debt deal with Biden

A group of hard-right conservatives, mainly members of the House Freedom Caucus, have shut down House business for a second day in protest of Speaker Kevin McCarthy's leadership and the compromise he struck with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling deal. The conservatives are demanding deeper spending cuts and preparing for a longer fight to prevent the debt bill from taking hold. This sets the stage for a potentially disastrous showdown ahead when Congress will need to pass spending bills to fund the government at the levels set by the McCarthy-Biden debt package, or risk a shutdown in federal government operations when the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.