Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., told Newsmax on Tuesday the rhetoric coming from President Joe Biden about raising the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is mind-boggling, given that House Republicans will be voting on a proposal this week to hike it by $1.5 trillion along with about $4.5 trillion in spending cuts.
Biden first said he wouldn't negotiate until he got a plan from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. But since McCarthy introduced the plan on April 19, Biden has refused to negotiate. The White House said in a Statement of Administration Policy on Tuesday that Biden would veto the measure if it reached his desk, calling the House proposal "reckless" and accusing Republicans of "hostage-taking" by tying a debit-limit raise to spending cuts.
"It's mind-boggling to me with something so important to hear such irresponsible rhetoric coming out of the Oval Office in this case," Garcia, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE." "This nation was founded on compromise and negotiations. The Constitution was a product of that, and to be looking at record-high debt of $31 trillion, record-high inflation for almost three years over 7% and then to have the president of the United States say he's going to veto everything that we bring forward is flagrant. It's irresponsible. We need to get him to the table, including the Senate, as well."
The Treasury Department and the Congressional Budget Office have estimated that sometime this summer or early fall, the U.S. will hit the debt ceiling. If Congress and Biden are unable to reach an agreement, the U.S. will no longer afford to pay most of its bills and could lose its reserve currency status.
"We're bringing forward a good package," Garcia said. "There's about $4.8 trillion of either savings or cost avoidance without going after Social Security and Medicare — we're actually protecting Social Security and Medicare. And we're going after the money that wasn't spent during COVID."
Garcia said the Republican plan would get the federal government back to an operating budget of $1.5 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year.
"That's responsible spending," he said. "This is what you would want your accountant and your head of household to behave like."
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