John,

In order to secure the speaker’s gavel, Kevin McCarthy made major concessions to the far-right faction of his caucus, including agreeing to hold the debt ceiling increase hostage in order to extract cuts from critical programs, including Social Security and Medicare. And now we’ve learned that the debt ceiling debate is coming sooner than expected:

On an annual basis, Congress raises the “debt ceiling” to allow the U.S. Treasury to meet our fiscal obligations―to pay for expenses previously approved by Congress. But, in 2011, after the 2010 Tea Party wave brought a new batch of Republicans into Congress, Congress used the debt ceiling as leverage to demand austerity-style cuts to human needs programs. They also, unsuccessfully, attempted to hold Social Security and Medicare hostage in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

While the Treasury is able to use “extraordinary measures” for several months to avoid a default, the fight over funding cuts is already ramping up right now.

Rush a contribution today to fight back against right-wing hostage takers and protect critical programs, including Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.

Let’s be clear: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has indicated that she has the resources she needs to keep the federal government from defaulting on its debts until early June. But her announcement today that she has already had to resort to “extraordinary measures” comes as a surprise and increases the timeline for this potentially devastating debate.

It’s critical that we rally our allies in opposition to a group of extremists who are intent on holding hostage everything from Social Security to health care to nutrition to housing and more.

Donate today to hold Congress accountable to the American people and to prevent an economic meltdown.

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Thank you for demanding our leaders in Congress act responsibly on behalf of the American people and our economy.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs