The end of the opening month of the 118th Congress is near, and all eyes are laser-focused on what will be a months-long battle to raise the debt ceiling. House Republicans are vowing to hold the debt ceiling hostage in an effort to force massive, unspecified spending cuts—a deadly game we’ve seen before.
In 2011, the U.S. government came within days of default, an unprecedented event whose costly consequences endure to this day. The fallout from an actual default would be far worse.
“Americans deserve to know what kind of cuts Republicans want to make and why they think it is worth forcing an unnecessary crisis that will hurt most American families,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
On Feb. 7, when he delivers the State of the Union address, President Biden is expected to discuss Democrats’ budget priorities—and his own—while showing the way to prevent a completely preventable default.
CHEER: Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced the Washington, D.C. Admission Act (S. 51/H.R. 51). The bill would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state and give its residents full representation in Congress.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) reintroduced the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African-Americans Act (S. 40/H.R. 40) to study the impact of slavery, continuing discrimination against African-Americans, and make recommendations on reparations for descendants of slaves.
JEER: Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) reintroduced the No Federal Funding for Teacher’s Unions Act (H.R. 174).
