Since becoming speaker in January, McCarthy has faced a test: Could he strike a fiscal bargain with President Biden that would earn Republican support and avoid a breach of the debt ceiling and a government shutdown? Well, the grade is in. He aced the exam.

Consider where the parties started. Biden spent much of this year demanding that Congress raise the debt ceiling without preconditions. He refused to negotiate with McCarthy. At one point the White House floated the idea of tax increases. The speaker, by contrast, said that he was willing to work with the president to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for cuts.

Now look at where the two sides ended up: The Fiscal Responsibility Act is much closer to McCarthy’s original position than it is to Biden’s. It doesn’t hike taxes. It reduces spending. It contains measures the Left can’t stand. The public supports the deal by a two-to-one margin. Most Republicans and Democrats voted for it.