‘Reckless’: Schumer warns McCarthy not to use debt limit as ‘political bargaining chip’
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) not to demand spending cuts as part of any extension of the country’s borrowing authority.
“America pays its debts. Period. There should be no political brinkmanship with the debt limit,” Schumer said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “It’s reckless for Speaker McCarthy and MAGA Republicans to try and use the full faith and credit of the United States as a political bargaining chip.”
McCarthy, who agreed to leverage the debt ceiling as a concession to his right flank in order to become speaker, has called on Democrats to engage in negotiations with Republicans over a plan to increase the federal debt limit after Democrats and the Biden administration said they intend to stand firm and won’t allow Republicans to pressure them to cut federal programs.
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“What I would like to do is I would like to sit down with all the leaders and especially the president and start having discussions,” McCarthy said, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill.
“If you had a child and you gave them a credit card and they hit the limit and you raised it again, clean increase and again and again, would you keep doing that or would you change the behavior?” the House speaker asked rhetorically.
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the United States would reach its borrowing cap of $31.4 trillion on Jan. 19. When the government hits the limit, Yellen will be able to stave off default for several months, utilizing so-called extraordinary measures such as withholding scheduled contributions to a federal employee’s retirement funds. Eventually, those options will run out, and if the nation’s borrowing limit is not increased, it could lead to a partial government shutdown and delays in government payments, including Social Security checks.
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The recent threats from Republicans that they intend to use any vote on raising the debt limit as a way to force Democrats to cut spending echoes a similar standoff in 2011. Congressional Republicans sought to pressure then-President Barack Obama to accept spending cuts in exchange for raising the ceiling. Fears of government default rocked the financial markets and led to an unprecedented downgrade of the nation’s credit rating.
“A default would be catastrophic for America’s working families and lead to higher costs,” Schumer said on Tuesday.