Senate Republicans reject former President Trump’s call to let the federal government default on its debts unless President Biden agrees to “massive” spending cuts, dismissing Trump’s suggestion as too risky to consider seriously
The cold reception to Trump’s bold statement is the latest sign of a widening rift between Trump and his party’s establishment in Washington.
While Trump maintains strong influence in the House, where he helped Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) secure enough votes to be elected president, it’s a different story in the Senate.
GOP senators largely ignored Trump’s participation in a CNN town hall on Wednesday, then dismissed the former president’s claim that not raising the debt ceiling before next month’s deadline may not be a big problem
“I don’t think anybody is suggesting that ‘we have to default’ is a wise policy, a wise strategy for this country,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), adding that Trump “certainly doesn’t ” view
He argued that it would be far more productive to encourage Biden and McCarthy to work together to reach a compromise rather than push for a default as a viable option.
“Right now, conversations are going on with the top four and of course the White House, and now the staff. What we want to do is encourage that every step of the way,” he said.
Republican Senate Whip John Thune (S.D.) said “most people recognize that we have to make a deal here” and predicted that Trump’s pushbacks won’t get much traction among Republican lawmakers.
“I don’t think we want to go there with the potential consequences,” he said of a potential breach.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership team, said: “No one thinks default is a good idea. No one.”
McCarthy distanced herself from Trump’s comments on Thursday.
“The only thing I see right now is that the Republicans have made sure that default is not on the table. We’ve raised the debt limit,” he said, referring to the bill that House Republicans they approved last month to raise the debt ceiling to $1.5 trillion and cut spending by $4.8 trillion.
“The only person talking about default right now is President Biden. His actions, he’s ignored this problem, just like he’s ignored the border, that means more Americans are going to die from fentanyl. Just yesterday they found 11,000 people,” he said.
Those are very different tones from Trump’s tone at the CNN town hall, where he declared: “I tell the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if you don’t get massive cuts, you’re going to have defaults. .”
He went on to say that a federal default might not have as big an impact on the US economy as experts predict.
Trump said the consequences of not extending the debt limit before the deadline “could be nothing” or result in just “a bad week or a bad day.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), when asked about Trump’s comments, said: “Yeah, well, we can’t do a default, but we should find a way to reach a compromise. That’s what you expect a president to do.”
Romney said that Trump is supporting a defect because it is in his political interests.
“If there was a flaw, the only person who might be tempted to celebrate politically would be Donald Trump, because he would say, ‘If I were president, this would never have happened,'” he said.
Romney said Trump’s CNN town hall appearance showed a person “untethered to the truth and untethered to the constitutional order.”
He also criticized Trump for saying he would pardon the people who invaded the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and for not voicing his support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“A crime is a crime. I believe in juries, and people who have been convicted of a crime should pay the penalty that the jury or court imposed and [that] they accepted it, in some cases,” Romney said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he wasn’t all that surprised Trump advised Republicans to let the nation rule.
“I’m not surprised he said that,” Cassidy said. “The president is a candidate who’s trying to run on a very populist basis, and I think he feels that’s going to position him, get him more votes, and I think he’ll say whatever it takes to get more votes.”
Cassidy said he wasn’t sure how he would influence Trump’s allies in the House.
“I don’t have his temperature,” he said.
A Republican senator who spoke on condition of anonymity to comment candidly on Trump said senators would ignore the advice.
“I don’t know the House, but I don’t think there are many senators waiting for their instructions,” the lawmaker said.
But the senator expressed uncertainty over whether Trump could push House conservatives to take a harder line in the talks.
“I don’t know,” said the senator. “We have to work together.”
House Republicans mostly sidestepped Trump’s call to let the nation default if Democrats refuse to accept massive cuts, but were less critical of Trump’s comments than some of his Senate Republican colleagues.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, said a flaw is what House Republicans are trying to avoid.
“Obviously, if there’s no agreement, then there’s default. That’s what we’re all trying to prevent,” he said.
He downplayed Trump’s influence, noting that “obviously, he’s not part of this negotiation.”
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-D.) said he views Trump’s willingness to let the nation default as campaign rhetoric.
“I forget who said it, but you know, you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. … The candidates talk about things differently than the people who are trying to reach an agreement,” he said, referring to the policy maxim made famous by the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks contributed.
