Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia offered different views of the debt ceiling agreement during Wednesday interviews on Newsmax.
Greene told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that she was voting in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, noting that she initially opposed the deal crafted by the Biden administration and House Republican leadership.
"Originally, I didn't support it. As a matter of fact, I don't support raising the debt ceiling," Greene said.
However, the congresswoman said, she changed her mind due to a measure that would carve up future appropriations into 12 separate bills for the next six years, containing spending growth to 1% a year over that period.
And if all dozen fail to pass, she said, a continuing resolution would be approved that requires a 1% reduction from the previous year.
"The appropriations is where I said all along I'm willing to fight, because that's where we fund and defund government programs," Greene said.
The congresswoman also addressed issues posed by some of her colleagues, like Gaetz, who argue that the cap of nondefense discretionary spending is outweighed by the 3% increase in defense spending.
"Here's the issue: I personally would love to do more. I really would. Republicans are barely in control of one-third of the federal government," Greene said. "That's the reality we're in."
But Gaetz was not convinced of the minor victories for Republicans beyond the top line.
"Taking a 99% continuing resolution off of current spending levels is giving the Democrats a massive win," the congressman said. "That would be like me gaining 50 pounds and saying, That's OK because I'm going to take a walk to the ice cream store on the following day."
"The two principal dynamics happening right now around this bill: Democrats are moving toward it, and Republicans are moving away from it," he continued. "That's because so many of the claims are illusions."
In addition, the congressman suggested that the legislation "might actually be worse than a clean debt limit increase" for Republicans, as the new permitting reforms could be used to incentivize wind and solar energy.
"If the dollar loses its position as the global reserve currency, then every American will actually feel the impact of this debt," Gaetz said.
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