Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told Newsmax Wednesday that the Senate Budget Committee, of which he is a member, is now a "useless appendage," not really working on new budgets.
"I'm on the Budget Committee, which is a useless appendage because nobody does budgets here anymore," Braun said during "The Chris Salcedo Show" Wednesday. "Even the appropriators don't do their job. They drop a 4,100-page bill in your lap with two days to read it."
Braun said the recent debt ceiling increase bill, which includes some cuts, passed by the Republican House majority and doomed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is "minimally what needs to be done to curb large spending increases driving the national debt to more than $31 trillion."
"Think about it. When I got here, we were $18 trillion in debt," said Braun, who assumed office on Jan. 3, 2019. "We're now $31 trillion. [President Joe] Biden has put the only budget out there that puts us $51 trillion in debt in just 10 years, and [the GOP House bill] is the first piece of responsibility where there's been political will and some gumption to do something different than go even further and further into debt as a country. We're borrowing from our kids and grandkids in a shameful way."
While praising Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for getting the bill through the chamber, Braun said it will only "dent" the debt in the next 10 years that Democrats want to see by about one-fourth.
"Thank goodness for the House," he said. "McCarthy had put this out there. It's got Schumer in Biden in a trick box because now it's on them."
McCarthy and Schumer will join the two other congressional leaders in a scheduled meeting with Biden next week to see if a compromise can be reached to raise the debt ceiling before the United States defaults on its obligations, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said could come as soon as June 1.
Up until now, Biden said he would not negotiate with Republicans on raising the debt ceiling and would veto any legislation that put conditions on the increase.
Part of the problem, Braun said, is that some Republican senators have voted with Democrats on large spending packages that have dramatically increased the debt.
"I've been talking about this since I've been here. And very simply, it's the unholy alliance with neocon Republicans," he said. "The Democrats are unapologetic about it. They don't care if you borrow and spend from future generations."
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