{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5697", "Republican Leaders Plot Forcing Choice Between Economic Ruin Or Social Security And Medicare Cuts", "2022-10-18", "2022", "2022-10", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Donald S. Beyer, Jr.", "B001292", "beyer.house.gov", "beyer", "https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "New reporting and interviews with Republican leaders have clarified House Republicans\u2019 intent to use threats to block an increase to the debt limit \u2013 which could lead to a default and a major economic crisis \u2013 subject to demands for policy concessions.\n\nThe Bipartisan Policy Center projects that the debt limit will need to be raised in the third quarter of 2023. Congress\u2019 Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) published a report last year titled: \u201cBreaching the Debt Ceiling Could Harm Millions of Americans and Produce Economic Devastation.\u201d\n\nDebt limit fights were a hallmark of Republican congressional majorities during the Obama presidency, at the time Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell likened the tactic to hostage-taking. House Republicans now say one of their \u201ctop priorities\u201d for a ransom in any future debt limit standoff would be demands for cuts to Social Security and Medicare:\n\nPunchbowl: McCarthy On Debt Limit, Immigration And Ukraine\n\nMcCarthy signaled that Republicans would again hold the debt limit up for policy changes.\n\nAs we all remember, the debt limit was one of the bruising battles of the Obama presidency under then Speaker John Boehner. The U.S. government\u2019s credit rating was downgraded for the first time ever following that 2011 debacle, but GOP lawmakers apparently are ready to try again in order to force \u201cstructural changes\u201d to popular entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare.\n\nHere\u2019s McCarthy on the debt limit:\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t just continue down the path to keep spending and adding to the debt. And if people want to make a debt ceiling [for a longer period of time], just like anything else, there comes a point in time where, okay, we\u2019ll provide you more money, but you got to change your current behavior. We\u2019re not just going to keep lifting your credit card limit, right? And we should seriously sit together and [figure out] where can we eliminate some waste? Where can we make the economy grow stronger?\u201d\n\nWe reminded McCarthy that he didn\u2019t pitch these debt limit battles during the Trump era, during which the GOP ran up $7 trillion in new debt in only four years, including pandemic relief funding. Congress raised the debt ceiling three times during Trump\u2019s presidency. Republicans only hold the borrowing cap hostage when Democrats are in the White House. McCarthy countered that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have spent too much money, in his view.\n\nWe asked McCarthy if he intended to try to reform entitlements as part of the debt ceiling debate. McCarthy said he wouldn\u2019t \u201cpredetermine\u201d anything.\n\nBloomberg Government: Entitlement, Spending Cap Plans Linked by GOP to Debt-Limit Deal\n\n\u201cSocial Security and Medicare eligibility changes, spending caps, and safety-net work requirements are among the top priorities for key House Republicans who want to use next year\u2019s debt-limit deadline to extract concessions from Democrats.\n\nThe four Republicans interested in serving as House Budget Committee chairman in the next Congress said in interviews that next year\u2019s deadline to raise or suspend the debt ceiling is a point of leverage if their party can win control of the House in the November midterm elections.\n\nThe Republican position \u2014 which members are still formulating \u2014 could set the stage for an explosive standoff next year, reminiscent of the 2011 negotiations when the Tea Party wave of Republicans took on the Obama administration over spending.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s also possible Republicans will demand process-focused legislation \u2014 such as requiring a reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio \u2014 that could subsequently put major entitlement programs in play.\n\nIf Congress doesn\u2019t raise or suspend the debt limit by the deadline, the federal government would default on payments officials had already agreed to make. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned during 2021 negotiations that a default would be \u201ca catastrophe\u201d and could cause a financial crisis.\n\n\u201cThe debt limit is clearly one of those tools that Republicans \u2014 that a Republican-controlled Congress \u2014 will use to make sure that we do everything we can to make this economy strong,\u201d said Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) , the ranking member of the House Budget Committee. He\u2019s seeking the top GOP spot on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee but said if he doesn\u2019t get it, he\u2019ll remain in his Budget Committee position.\n\nReps. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) are seeking the top spot on the Budget Committee if Smith gets the Ways and Means role. Those three agreed Republicans must use the debt-limit deadline to enact fiscally conservative legislation. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), head of the Republican Study Committee\u2019s Budget and Spending Task Force, also said the upcoming debt-limit deadline is \u201cobviously a leverage point.\u201d\n\nWashington Post: GOP To Use Debt Limit To Force Spending Cuts, With Medicare, Social Security In Mix, McCarthy Says\n\nHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that if Republicans win control of the House the GOP will use raising the debt limit as leverage to force spending cuts \u2014 which could include cuts to Medicare and Social Security \u2014 and limit additional funding to Ukraine.\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t just continue down the path to keep spending and adding to the debt,\u201d the California Republican told Punchbowl News in a recent interview. \u201cAnd if people want to make a debt ceiling [for a longer period of time], just like anything else, there comes a point in time where, okay, we\u2019ll provide you more money, but you got to change your current behavior.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re not just going to keep lifting your credit card limit, right,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd we should seriously sit together and [figure out] where can we eliminate some waste? Where can we make the economy grow stronger?\u201d\n\nPressed on whether changes to the entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security were part of the debt ceiling discussions, McCarthy said he would not \u201cpredetermine\u201d anything.\n\nThe debt limit \u2014 the country\u2019s borrowing cap \u2014 will need to be lifted next year to protect the country\u2019s credit score and to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt. But McCarthy suggested that his party would be willing to hold the debt limit up for policy changes.\n\nAxios: GOP Leaders Prepare For 2023 Debt Limit \"Nightmare\"\n\nGOP leaders, congressional aides and business groups are preparing for a potential \"nightmare scenario\" next year if House Republicans take back the majority: a debt limit showdown reminiscent of the near-crisis in 2011.\n\nWhy it matters: There are serious question marks \u2014 and underlying anxiety \u2014 surrounding what type of leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will be if elected as House speaker. How he handles a debt limit showdown will be a crucial test of his leadership abilities for which key stakeholders are already privately planning.\n\nThe Hill: McConnell, McCarthy Public Splits Raise Questions About Ability To Govern\n\nMcConnell helped fashion a compromise in December that allowed Democrats to raise the debt limit through the Senate with a simple majority vote.\n\nMcCarthy and other House GOP leaders, by comparison, made raising the limit harder by saying they would not vote for such a measure even if it were attached to popular defense legislation.\n\nThis is already fueling anxiety that Congress is heading for another debt-limit standoff next year, with Republicans potentially in control of the House this time.\n\nIn 2011, the nation came perilously close to defaulting on its obligations with a Democrat in the White House and a GOP House. It prompted Standard and Poor\u2019s to downgrade the nation\u2019s credit rating.\n\nNewsweek: Fox News Host Confronts GOP's Scalise on Proposed Medicare Cuts: 'Betrayal'", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:20:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5697"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3937619514763355, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}