Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday rejected a sweeping bipartisan plan to avert this week's government shutdown and called for a combination of raising the debt ceiling and a stopgap government funding bill. It seemed like he was caught off guard.
President Trump said in one article: joint statement Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said the party wants disaster relief and support for farmers, issues that would be addressed in a temporary funding plan, but would not give Democrats “everything they need.” He said he wants Congress to pass a “streamlined spending bill.” “We want to increase the debt ceiling'' and “increase the debt ceiling.''
“The stupidest and most incompetent thing Congressional Republicans ever did was allow our country to reach the debt ceiling in 2025. This was a mistake and one that must be addressed now,” the statement said. said.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she was “surprised” by the request.
“This was a surprise to me,” she told reporters at the Capitol. “I was surprised that [Trump] He wants to postpone the vote on the debt ceiling until this year.
“I don’t understand his rationale,” she added.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R.N.C.) said, “I have no problem doing that,” but added, “I don't know why Sen. Schumer would accept it.”
“It looks like June. [for the debt ceiling]So you don't have to feel the pressure of an impending default to get people. [to raise it]” he said.
Rep. Dave Schweikert (R-Ariz.) told reporters Wednesday that he doesn't think debt limits should be part of current funding discussions.
“Stressors are pretty much the only moments when we do things that are difficult,” he told reporters on the issue. “If there are no stressors, how can we convince the market that we are taking some of our debt seriously?'' he said.
“If we just walk away and say: We're just raising the debt ceiling, in a sense we're going to pay a penalty for higher interest rates down the road,” he said. “There are no more free options.”
and, Post to XSen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wants Democrats to “agree to raise the debt ceiling so President Trump can safely pass massive corporate and billionaire tax cuts.” he accused.
“Short version: Tax cuts for billionaires or a government shutdown for Christmas,” he added.
The debt ceiling sets a limit on how much the Treasury can borrow to cover the nation's bills. The national debt currently exceeds $36 trillion.
In a bipartisan plan to address the debt ceiling passed by Congress last year, both parties agreed to suspend the debt ceiling until 2024 and would take further action on the cap no matter which candidate wins the presidential election. The task of taking measures has begun.
The debt limit will only be suspended until the end of the year, but the Treasury has previously been able to take what it calls “extraordinary measures” to prevent the country from defaulting, to buy time for the U.S. to reach a deal. On how to deal with the debt ceiling.
Recent estimates by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) are attracting attention. earlier this week The so-called “X date”, when such measures could run out next year, would be “at the earliest in June 2025, and at the latest before the recess in August 2025.”
Some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday expressed openness to the idea of including a debt ceiling increase in the bill.
Sen. Ted Budd (RN.C.) also said Wednesday, “I don't like addressing the debt ceiling issue, but I don't want it to be used as a tool against President Trump.”
It is not yet clear how Democrats will react to Trump's proposal, but the party out of power (which it will be in 2025) is likely to demand significant concessions in exchange for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. There are many.
Last year, Democrats accused Republicans of toying with the threat of a national debt default after months of pushing for a “clean” debt ceiling increase with no additional increases. This chaotic showdown ultimately led to a suspension of the debt limit along with an agreement on a cap on the federal government's annual spending, but not a credit downgrade by one of the “big three” credit rating agencies.
Some Democratic members have refrained from expressing their stance for now.
“I don't believe in negotiating with ourselves, and that means we have the ball right now in the courtroom of the House,” said Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (R-Ore.). He spoke before announcing his support for a bipartisan funding plan developed this week to prevent a government shutdown ahead of Friday's closing. deadline.
Congress came to a halt Wednesday afternoon after President Trump announced his opposition to the plan. Lawmakers were just preparing to act on a sweeping policy to keep the government open through mid-March, along with a slew of additional measures ranging from disaster relief. Economic aid and medical care for farmers after hurricanes Helen and Milton.
“I feel very strongly about the health package,” Wyden said instead. “I've spent hours and months and months…The president-elect is talking about fiscal responsibility. Our package will bring money to Medicare, taxpayers, seniors' coffers, and I have no doubt that he will meets the requirements of
Al Weaver contributed.
