Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has proposed eliminating the debt limit as the possibility of a default draws near.
When asked about the policy Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested that Biden is open to it, the Washington Examiner reported.
Biden open to terminating debt ceiling
Psaki said Friday that Biden’s “focus” for now is getting the current limit raised (and muscling through $3.5 trillion in spending that no one asked for) but signaled that might not be the end of the matter.
“There’s plenty of time after [Congress raises the debt limit] to discuss what the path forward looks like,” Psaki said, according to the Examiner.
Congress has until Oct. 18 to raise the debt ceiling or else the government will default on its debts for the first time, as Axios notes.
Speaking before Congress on Thursday, Yellen proposed eliminating the debt limit completely.
“Yes, I would,” she said, as the Examiner reported. “If, to finance those spending and tax decisions it’s necessary to issue additional debt, I believe it’s very disruptive to put the president and myself, the treasury secretary, in a situation where we might be unable to pay the bills that result from those past decisions.”
“Get out of the way”
The debt ceiling has existed since World War I, when Congress relinquished responsibility to sign off on every debt the government incurs and instead set a limit on the Treasury’s borrowing.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused to help Biden raise it, saying the burden should fall on Biden and his party since they are governing in a partisan and reckless fashion. Biden wants to spend another $3.5 trillion without any Republican support and, preposterously, claims his plan will cost nothing.
“Since your party wishes to govern alone, it must handle the debt limit alone as well,” McConnell wrote in a Monday letter to Biden that was published by Politico.
Also on Monday, Biden delivered a vicious speech — just about the only thing he seems to be good for these days — blaming the debt standoff on his predecessor, Donald Trump, and his “reckless tax and spending policies.”
Even as inflation soars under Biden, he accused Republicans of “playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy” and claimed that the debt limit has “nothing to do” with his astronomical spending proposals, according to Axios. “If you don’t want to help save the country,” he said, “get out of the way so you don’t destroy it.”
The post Following Yellen’s lead, Psaki says Biden is open to eliminating debt ceiling for good first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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