Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Monday rejected the House-passed bill to raise the debt limit and said he plans to hold hearings on cuts in the package to “expose the true impact of this reckless legislation on everyday Americans.”
Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, outlined his plans in a “Dear colleagues” letter that shows the House GOP and Democrats who control the Senate and White House remain far apart in finding a way to stave off a devastating default.
The Senate leader will hold a trial of sorts for Republicans who support the debt-limit bill that made it through the House last week. The bill gave House Speaker Kevin McCarthy a stronger position in demanding negotiations with President Biden, though Democrats are eyeing political advantage.
“This bill was hastily drafted and forced through the House at a break-neck speed. Not a single committee of jurisdiction held a hearing or a mark-up on a bill that would fundamentally remake American society,” Mr. Schumer said. “The Senate will show the public what this bill truly is.”
The GOP bill would raise the debt limit until May 2024 in exchange for slashing spending by $4.8 trillion. It also would rescind at least $90.5 billion in unspent pandemic relief and $200 billion in green energy tax credits passed by Democrats last year.
Republicans also aim to cancel Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will save $315 billion over the next decade.
Mr. Biden and Democrats want Republicans to approve a “clean” debt-limit increase without spending cuts attached. They said Republicans were willing to do it under former President Donald Trump and failure to extend borrowing authority would have devastating effects on the economy.
Mr. Schumer said the first hearing on the GOP plan, which he called the “Default on America Act” or DOA, will be Thursday before the Senate Budget Committee.
“The DOA would have real, dramatic impacts on the American families in all of our states,” he said. “For example, the DOA would gut Medicaid for over 20 million Americans, rip away SNAP benefits for over a million recipients and eliminate Pell grants for tens of thousands of American students every year.”
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, and his troops say Democrats are the irresponsible ones, given the state of the U.S. debt and its impact on future generations.
“I’m concerned about the debt ceiling, I have been since the moment I became speaker,” Mr. McCarthy said during a press conference in Israel. “The only way you solve problems is you negotiate.”
Mr. McCarthy said Mr. Biden “still hasn’t talked to me” since the House passed its version.
“We raised [the limit] before we came here,” the speaker said. “We will not pass a debt ceiling that just raises it without doing something about our debt.”
In Washington, Mr. Schumer said Democrats aren’t ready to budge and the GOP plan has “no hope of ever becoming law.”
“If anything, the MAGA House Republicans’ actions have increased the likelihood of default,” he said. “It locks the House into an unacceptable and extreme position that pulls us even further apart. If Speaker McCarthy was a serious good-faith negotiator, he would not have let extremists take him hostage and move this debate in the wrong direction.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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