Freshmen Congressmen Fault Biden Over Debt Ceiling Before HV Speech

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Two freshman members of the U.S. House of Representatives issued statements criticizing President Joe Biden for an upcoming visit to the Hudson Valley to talk about the debt ceiling crisis.

Biden is expected to visit Wednesday, they said.

The president's position has consistently been that he will not negotiate over the United States' obligation to pay its debts, but that he would be happy to negotiate with the Republican-led House about the budget.

However, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Marc Molinaro (NY-19) said Biden should negotiate with House leaders on their proposal to extend the debt limit for less than a year on the condition that deep cuts are made in spending for the next decade.

Raising the debt ceiling doesn’t authorize more spending. It only authorizes the federal government to pay for what Congress has already approved. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents, according to the Treasury Department.

In a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that failure to increase the debt limit “would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests.”

Republicans have not revealed or voted on a detailed spending plan as is usually done.

Their debt ceiling negotiation proposal would pull federal spending back to 2022 levels and cap increases on non-defense spending to 1 percent a year (not including mandated Social Security and Medicare money).

Lawler took the administration to task for saying that the deep cuts would include veterans services.

"The Limit, Save, and Grow Act makes no mention of any 'cuts' to veterans services, leaving all non-discretionary spending decisions up to the Appropriations Committee," he said in a news release.

He said he opposed to any cuts or changes to veterans services, and that anyone suggesting the GOP plan would do so was using veterans as political pawns.

Molinaro said the Democrats should negotiate.

"President Biden’s game of chicken is dangerous. Our financial system, Social Security & Medicare, veterans benefits, and checks for servicemembers are hanging in the balance," Molinaro said.

Where Biden will be speaking is not known, The Journal News reported.

SEE:Debt Default Would Cause 'Economic Chaos,' Treasury's Yellen Warns