Washington,
D.C.–U.S. Senator Mike
Crapo (R-Idaho), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, signed a letter led by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and other Republican senators pledging
not to vote to increase the debt ceiling, “whether that increase comes through
a stand-alone bill, a continuing resolution, or any other vehicle.” A
debt ceiling increase will be necessary because of Democrats’ reckless tax and
spending spree that will cost over $5 trillion and increase our debt to $45
trillion by 2031.
“Despite having
the tools to raise the debt limit within the reconciliation process, Democrats
want to ignore the debt implications of their reckless budget,” Crapo said in remarks on the Senate Floor. “If the Democrats are going to cram down this massive
tax-and-spending spree, they will have to deal with the debt limit themselves.”
The letter puts
Democrats on notice that Republicans will not help them increase the debt
ceiling required by their irresponsible budget. Democrats have the
capability to increase the debt limit without Republican votes, and they will
have to accept the responsibility to do so alone.
Senators
joining Crapo and Johnson included Senators Tommy Tuberville
(R-Alabama), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Tom Cotton
(R-Arkansas), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida), James Risch
(R-Idaho), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Mike Braun (R- Indiana), Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Roger Marshall (R-
Kansas), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Bill Cassidy
(R-Louisiana), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi),
Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Deb
Fischer (R-Nebraska), Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina),
Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Kevin Cramer
(R-North Dakota), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), James
Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Patrick Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), Lindsey Graham (R-South
Carolina), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Mike
Rounds (R-South Dakota), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Bill Hagerty
(R-Tennessee), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah),
Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Shelly Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), John Barrasso
(R-Wyoming), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming).
The full text
of the letter can be found hereand below.
To Our Fellow
Americans,
Since taking
total control of the United States federal government, with the Presidency, a
narrow majority in the House, and Vice President Harris providing the deciding
vote in an evenly split Senate, Democrats have embarked on a massive and
unprecedented deficit spending spree. Without a single Republican vote, they
passed a $1.9 trillion “Covid relief” bill in March even though $1 trillion was
still unspent from previous bipartisan Covid relief bills.
Now they have
passed a $3.5 trillion Budget Resolution, again without a single Republican
vote. The non-partisan committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has
calculated that a more honest score of this budget resolution will likely
exceed $5 trillion. Senate Democrats shamelessly estimate their tax and
spending plan will result in a $45 trillion debt level by 2031.
In order for
this spending to occur, our nation’s debt limit will have to be increased
significantly. Because Democrats are responsible for the spending, they need to
take responsibility for increasing the debt ceiling. They have total control of
the government, and the unilateral ability to raise the debt ceiling to
accommodate their unilateral spending plans. Indeed, democrats have the ability
to raise the debt limit through the Budget Resolution by introducing
appropriate language in the upcoming reconciliation process (or a subset of
reconciliation). Doing so would not require a single Republican vote, and would
appropriately require each and every Democrat to take responsibility for their
out-of-control spending.
We should not default
on our debts under any circumstances. If Democrats threaten a default, it will
only be because they refuse to vote for the debt ceiling increase necessitated
by their own irresponsible spending. Democrats, at any time, have the power
through reconciliation to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, and they should
not be allowed to pretend otherwise.
We, the
undersigned Republican Senators, are letting Senate Democrats and the American
public know that we will not vote to increase the debt ceiling, whether that
increase comes through a stand-alone bill, a continuing resolution, or any
other vehicle. This is a problem created by Democrat spending. Democrats will have
to accept sole responsibility for facilitating it.
###