(LibertySociety.com) – In response to the Republican’s debt-ceiling bill that passed in the House on April 26th, 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hatched a plan to publicly scrutinize the bill by holding Senate committee hearings to show the public exactly what is in the bill. Senator Schumer has not said whether he will bring the House bill to the Senate for a vote. However, he penned a letter to fellow lawmakers on May 1st, 2023, blasting the Republicans for the content of the bill, stating that it forces “steep cuts to law enforcement, veterans, families, teachers, and kids.”
Senator Schumer also called out Republicans for not following the proper channels before passing the bill, but Democrats have historically done the exact same thing with multiple bills. The bill increases the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion over the next year but includes spending cuts that Democrats believe are non-negotiable, including many of the climate-agenda items that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition, Republicans aim to do away with President Biden’s plan to cancel student loan debt, as well as choosing to simply not spend unused money, while also stopping the funding to the IRS for the increase of 87,000 agents within the department.
Speaker McCarthy told reporters on Monday, May 1th, 2023, while visiting Israel, that “The president still hasn’t talked to me,” joking while comparing President Biden’s refusal to talk to him with his refusal to speak to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. He and President Biden did not speak for almost one month after he took office in 2021. On Friday, April 28th, Press Secretary Karinne Jean-Pierre ignored the legislation that Republicans passed to increase the debt ceiling while calling on them to raise the debt ceiling. Shortly after Speaker McCarthy’s comments, he received a phone call from President Biden, inviting him to meet for negotiations.
A hearing on the GOP proposal was held by the Senate budget committee on May 4.
Copyright 2023, LibertySociety.com
