Kevin McCarthy and the extreme Trump Republicans in Congress want to gut President Biden’s agenda and slash critical federal spending before passing a debt ceiling bill, but House Democrats are trying to take McCarthy completely out of the debt ceiling debate. And it could work.
House Democrats can use a tool called a Discharge Petition that would force a vote on a clean debt ceiling increase. It would take just 5 Republicans to sign on — a tall task, but not impossible given the looming threat of economic crisis if Congress and the President fail to fund payment of America’s debts by June 1st.1
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made the simple argument: "It is now time for MAGA Republicans to act in a bipartisan manner to pay America’s bills without extreme conditions."2 The House must pursue all options to avoid devastating spending cuts and an economic crisis.
Sign the petition to the U.S. House: Pass a discharge petition to pay America’s debts. We must protect the social safety net and the economy from extremist GOP threats.
When it comes to Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill, here’s a list of its supporters: Wall Street, massive corporations, rich CEOs, and far right extremist MAGA Republicans. This bill is for billionaires and right-wing extremists.
The moves of the extreme GOP have made it feel like 2011 when we were on the verge of a full blown economic crisis. That’s when Republicans fought a debt ceiling increase in order to make devastating federal spending cuts hurting everyday Americans. What came with it? America’s credit rating was downgraded and the stock market plummeted.3
This time around, House Republicans are pushing us to a point where economists say we’re on the verge of economic catastrophe.4
“Economic catastrophe” just so extremist Republicans can push their policies of climate change denial, gutting government services for seniors and poor people, and tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
But we’ve known for a long time that there are other ways to end the debt ceiling fight, and a discharge petition is one of those ways. In a time when MAGA extremism in Congress is so dangerous, House Democrats are making moves to bypass the most extreme elements of Trump’s GOP in order to protect President Biden’s agenda, social programs like Social Security, and the economy.
The United States has until June 1 to extend the debt limit. Then, the real threat of an economic crisis comes. This is why it’s so critical that the House pursues a discharge petition to end the debt ceiling fight. Because GOP extremists will be pushing to send us off the fiscal cliff.
Add your name: Urge the House to pass a debt ceiling discharge petition.
Sources:
- New York Times, "House Democrats Move to Force a Debt-Limit Increase as Default Date Looms," May 2, 2023.
- Ibid.
- The Guardian, "Danger and deja vu: what 2011 can tell us about the US debt ceiling crisis," April 30, 2023.
- Ibid.