Senate leaders are looking to attach legislation to increase the debt ceiling to the annual defense reauthorization bill, but congressional Republicans are pushing back against the plan.
GOP congressmen have been pushing for Democrats to pass a debt limit hike on their own. And even though much of the recent new debt was created with Republican support during the Trump administration, Republicans like Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar say they’ll feel no guilt over a vote against raising the debt ceiling.
“I have no qualms voting against that, because in order to have a strong United States you need to have a strong fiscal policy,” Gosar said. “One that doesn’t spend more than you take in.”
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego said Republicans are playing a dangerous game with the debt ceiling vote, one that could have negative repercussions on a recovering economy.
“They are playing Russian roulette,” Gallego said. “We’re in a very tenuous area of our economy right now. There’s a lot of people that are barely starting to come out of the recession created by COVID-19.”
Experts say the U.S. could default on its debt if the ceiling isn’t raised by mid-December.
“This is a self-induced wound by the Republicans,” Gallego said.
