Global Courant 2023-05-13 22:06:45
Virginia Democratic representative Abigail Spanberger wants to bail out members of Congress until they raise the debt ceiling after voting against the Republican-led effort to raise the debt limit and cut government spending.
“As we rapidly approach a default, Congress is failing to protect seniors, military personnel, veterans and all Americans who would be affected by a default,” Spanberger said in a Friday letter to the House administrator responsible for the payroll administration.
Despite being constrained by congressional and constitutional rules, Spanberger requested that House officials “prepare to withhold congressmen’s wages until Congress approves and the president signs legislation to raise the debt ceiling and close the bill of our country to pay.”
Spanberger argued that elected representatives should not receive wages if they harm the economy and harm American workers by not raising the federal government’s borrowing limit.
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Representative Abigail Spanberger proposes withholding congressional wages until Congress raises the debt ceiling (Getty Images)
“If the American people and the American economy suffer as a result of the inaction of Congress, then members of Congress should not be rewarded with their wages. Right now, hyperpartisanship in Congress is putting our country’s economic strength and security at risk the stability of world markets and the world’s confidence in the creditworthiness of the United States of America,” Spanberger wrote.
The House narrowly passed a bill to raise the debt limit and prevent defaults while cutting spending, but Spanberger and every Democratic representative voted against the measure. President Biden opposes the bill’s cuts, and the Democratic-controlled Senate has not scheduled a vote on it.
Spanberger argued that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s The Limit, Save and Grow Act, which passed on April 26, would harm the government’s ability to confront drug cartels on the southern border, which were already under strain due to an influx of illegal immigrants after the expiration of Title 42.
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“Speaker McCarthy’s plan is not a smart strategy when fentanyl and other illicit drugs are killing more Americans every day,” Spanberger said, pointing to Department of Homeland Security projections that the GOP’s debt ceiling cuts would lead to reductions for border patrols. .
McCarthy has blamed Biden for withdrawing from the debt ceiling negotiating table since the GOP passed their proposal.
A split view of President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Congressional leaders were scheduled to meet Biden on Friday, but that meeting was postponed until next week. McCarthy said the delay is because the White House is not budging.
“I haven’t seen the seriousness of the White House from there that they want a deal,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday. “It seems they want a default rather than a deal.”
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has urged Congress to raise the borrowing limit by June, lest the administration risk running out when it expects the “extraordinary measures” enacted in January.
Congress last raised the debt ceiling in December 2021 to a total of $31.4 trillion.
Peter Kasperowicz and Elizabeth Elkind of Fox News contributed to the reporting.
Thomas Phippen is an editor at Fox News.
