As Democrats Go It Alone on Reckless Borrowing, They Will Need to Handle Debt Limit Alone

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree:

“Democrats have unified control of the Senate, the House, and the White House. Their strategy for all this ‘transformational’ borrowing, spending, and tax hikes was deliberately designed to include no Republican input and receive no Republican votes.

“Since Democrats decided to go it alone, they will not get Senate Republicans’ help with raising the debt limit. I have explained this clearly and consistently for two months now.

“We do not have divided government. Democrats do not need our help. They have every tool to address the debt limit on their own: the same party-line process they used to ram through inflationary spending in March and already plan to use again this fall.

“This might inconvenience Democrats. It might delay their next reckless taxing and spending spree. But Democrats cannot risk the full faith and credit of our nation to serve their own partisan timelines.

“Democrats decided to govern alone. Their unified Democratic government must put basic governing duties ahead of partisan wish lists. If they don’t, the consequences for our country would be catastrophic.

“Senate Republicans would support a clean continuing resolution that includes appropriate disaster relief and targeted Afghan assistance. We will not support legislation that raises the debt limit.

“Remember, when the debt suspension lapsed in August, the debt limit was automatically ratcheted up to account for all the borrowing that had occurred up to that date. This isn’t about the past. It’s about the future.

“And Democrats want to build a partisan future without our input.

“So Democrats will not get bipartisan facilitators for their purely partisan spending binge.

“Democrats are fully capable of owning this step themselves. The Democratic chairman of the House Budget Committee admitted just yesterday: “We can do it through reconciliation. [But] [l]eadership has said they don’t want to do that.” End quote.

“One party controls the entire government. They have the power to address this alone. And as I have warned since July, that is what they’ll need to do.”