U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt joined U.S. Senator Mike Lee and dozens of Republican colleagues in calling for fiscal responsibility and spending control measures in debt ceiling negotiations. Tubervillejoined a GOP letter to Majority LeaderChuck Schumer declaring broad Republican opposition to any debt ceiling legislation that lacks significant spending control measures.
“It is now clear that Senate Republicans aren’t going to bail out Biden and Schumer. They have to negotiate,” said Sen. Lee. “I thank my colleagues for joining my effort to emphasize this point in the clearest possible terms.”
“The Senate Republican conference is united behind the House Republican conference in support of spending cuts and structural budget reform as a starting point for negotiations on the debt ceiling,” wrote the senators. “This trajectory must be addressed with fiscal reforms.”
The letter emphasizes the GOP senators’ united front with the House Republican conference, advocating for spending cuts and structural budget reforms as prerequisites for any negotiation on raising the debt ceiling.
“Dear Leader Schumer,
The Senate Republican Conference is united behind the House Republican Conference in support of spending cuts and structural budget reform as a starting point for negotiations on the debt ceiling.
Our economy is in free fall due to unsustainable fiscal policies. This trajectory must be addressed with fiscal reforms. Moreover, recent Treasury projections have reinforced the urgency of addressing the debt ceiling. The House has taken a responsible first step in coming to the table with their proposals. It is imperative that the president now do the same.
As such, we will not be voting for cloture on any bill that raises the debt ceiling without substantive spending and budget reforms,” the Senators wrote.
Senators Tuberville, Britt, and Lee, current signatories include U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Mike Crapo, Ted Budd, Mike Braun, James Lankford, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, M.D., Ron Johnson, James Risch, Eric Schmitt, Rick Scott, John Cornyn, Kevin Cramer, Markwayne Mullin, Roger Wicker, Steve Daines, Lindsey Graham, John Barrasso, Deb Fischer, Tim Scott, John Hoeven, Thom Tillis, and J.D. Vance.
The debt limit — commonly called the ‘debt ceiling’ — is the highest amount the government can borrow under federal law. The federal government hit the debt limit in January 2023. Since then, the U.S. Treasury has employed ‘extraordinary measures’ to continue making payments on debt and new expenses. According to the U.S. Treasury, the United States is on track to exhaust those measures and run out of financial liquidity in a matter of weeks, meaning the federal government would no longer be able to make all of its payments.
The debt is continuing to rise. The debt ceiling will have to be increased in the coming weeks. Democrats have advocated for an increase in the amount of money the federal government is allowed to borrow without any reduction in federal spending. Republicans say they will not support any debt ceiling increase without significant reductions in spending. President Biden has repeatedly refused to negotiate a debt ceiling deal with Republicans even though the GOP controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
The House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 — a debt ceiling increase paired with spending cuts — on April 26, 2023.
In Fiscal Year 2022, federal tax revenue hit a record high of $4.9 trillion. However, in the same year, the federal government had a deficit of more than $1.38 trillion even though the country is not at war and the economy is at full employment.
