Last weekend, Speaker Kevin McCarthy cut a deal with President Biden behind closed doors that would add $4 trillion to our national debt and, in my viewpoint, has no serious substantive policy reforms to get our country back on track fiscally. I voted against this bill and want to explain why.
First, the so-called “deal” suspends the debt limit entirely through January 1, 2025, basically removing the cap entirely and only giving a date instead. Alternatively, the Limit, Save, Grow Act that we passed weeks ago would have raised the debt limit by $1.5 trillion — placing the default date to the middle of next year. So instead of raising the debt limit to a set amount, this compromise bill instead suspends the debt limit through a lame duck Congress putting little to no guardrails on spending up to that time. That is not a responsible way to govern.
Second, the Biden/McCarthy agreement doesn’t do nearly enough to grow American energy — one of the key drivers of our economy. Remember, our Limit, Save, Grow Act included comprehensive energy permitting reform designed to spur energy production across the board. But instead of maintaining those reforms, the Biden agreement only focuses on reforms to NEPA and expedited permitting for “energy storage” (i.e. batteries) – all while keeping in place Joe Biden’s “green energy” tax credits that mostly amount to giveaways for left wing pet projects.
Finally, the “cuts” to this bill only include $28 billion of COVID funds and just $1.4 billion of IRS spending – effectively slashing the cuts from the original Republican debt ceiling bill. In fact, most of the spending “wins” you’ll read about in the agreement really depend on the Biden Administration acting in good faith and keeping their promise to Speaker McCarthy, like reallocating $20 billion provided to the IRS for better use and actually cutting spending before issuing new regulations. Before the bill was even voted on, Biden’s OMB director said she would use a waiver provision in the bill to get around the "pay as you go," or "PAYGO" requirement. Frankly, the only way we should be raising the debt ceiling is if we’re including significant cuts to spending that will shrink the size of Washington, D.C. This deal simply does not do that.
That is why I voted no. Instead of caving to the Left’s agenda, we should be fighting for a better deal. We cannot keep allowing these types of shell games in Washington that go against the American people’s interests and call it a “success.” We’ve got to hold the line. The American people deserve no less.
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