Budget and Debt Ceiling
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the budget and debt ceiling and ``show us your plan,'' House Republicans are themselves starting to see why their attempts to threaten default to secure spending cuts has been a terrible idea from the start. It is not only reckless; it is not only dangerous--it turns out they can't even follow through on it.
This week, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee admitted that he doesn't even see a path to an agreement for lifting the debt ceiling, and at least 16 Republicans have never voted to raise the debt ceiling at all, even under President Trump. That is true.
But the problem here isn't that there isn't a path. Of course, there is a path. It is staring Republicans in the face. The solution is what we Democrats have said from the start: Instead of threatening default, instead of brinksmanship, Republicans should work with us on a clean extension of the debt ceiling. We did it three times under Donald Trump. We have already done it under President Biden, and we should do it again.
If Republicans want to push a separate discussion on the budget, that is their prerogative. In fact, it has been done many times by both parties in the past. But the Republicans would be reckless to take the full faith and credit of the United States hostage in order to force a conversation on the budget, particularly when there is an alternative tried-and-true path that has been used before: Separate the debt ceiling and raising the ability of us to pay our debts and discuss things on the budget--on taxes and on spending--which we always do. It is tying the two together that is reckless.
So it is becoming clearer and clearer to Republicans themselves--even those in the House--that the only legitimate path forward is this: Let's have a bipartisan and clean extension of the debt ceiling, as we have done many times before, and then Republicans can push a separate discussion on the budget.
The American people have listened to us. A month and a half ago, I started telling the Republican leader: Show us your plan.
President Biden, Hakeem Jeffries, and many others have joined in on that call, and it is resonating from one end of America to the other. Of course, you can't sit down and discuss something if you don't have a plan. Speaker McCarthy just says: Let's meet. But what are they going to do--discuss the weather? the rearrangement of the furniture?
Come on. Do it the right way.
You are beginning to see what we have said all along--that the best way to do this is with no hostage-taking, no brinksmanship on the debt ceiling, but with a strong, avid, and passionate discussion on spending issues--one separate from the other.
House Republicans cannot show us their plan, and as we said--as I predicted 2 months ago--a month and a half ago--it is going to be very hard for them to get 218 votes on any plan.
So come on. Look in the mirror. See what is going on, and do it the right way.
Speaker McCarthy, today is March 30. It has been long enough. You still haven't come up with a single specific cut that makes any difference in the debt that you want to do. Show us your plan. Drop the brinksmanship. Join Democrats on a clean extension of the debt ceiling.
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