With the clock ticking on a deadline to increase the nation’s borrowing limit, Florida Democrats denounce the push by Republicans to require spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the debt ceiling.
The United States reached its $31.4 trillion debt limit last week, prompting the U.S. Treasury Department to take “extraordinary measures” to allow the government to continue to pay its bills.
Democrats argue Congress has voted to raise the borrowing limit numerous times under presidents of both parties and say that not raising the debt ceiling would have a devastating impact on the global economy.
“What the Republicans in the House want to focus on is whether or not we pay our debts,” Rep. Maxwell Frost said. “Whether or not we pay the debts of money already spent. This isn’t about future spending, and that can be a different conversation, this is about right now.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week urging members to raise the borrowing limit “promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”
As part of its “extraordinary measures,” the Treasury Department has suspended contributions to some government worker retirement funds in order to have money available to pay interest on the nation’s debt. But some advocates say if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling, there could be more widespread impacts.
“If the federal government defaults because Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling, Social Security and Medicare payments could be disrupted,” said Max Richtman, the president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare. “It’s a lose-lose scenario for America’s seniors.”
Republicans want to tie a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts or other concessions from Democrats, saying that they would only raise the debt ceiling to secure an overhaul in federal spending.
“Democrats refusing to negotiate a plan to lower our federal debt are consciously choosing their radical agenda over YOUR best interests,” Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter.
But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said “nothing is negotiable” when it comes to paying the nation’s bills.
“We have to pay our bills. And, so there are no cuts that should be negotiated, tied to whether or not we pay the nation’s debt and pay our bills,” she added.
Speaker McCarthy said he has accepted an invitation from President Joe Biden to discuss the issue, though it’s not yet clear when that meeting will take place.
Spectrum News’ Justin Tasolides and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
