The federal government is running out of cash to pay its bills. Congressional Republicans are refusing to raise the debt ceiling in order to push through drastic cuts to programs championed by the Biden administration.
A Michigan Congresswoman, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, is urging her colleagues to raise the ceiling without pre-conditions in order to keep social programs in place.
“I do want folks to know speaker McCarthy has made it very clear to many folks not only within his own caucus but to our leadership, that they're refusing to raise the debt ceiling unless they can force cruel cuts to social safety net programs that I know are critically important to the mothers in my community, the veterans and some of the most vulnerable seniors.”, said Tlaib.
Economists say the US defaulting on its loans would trigger a global financial catastrophe. Republicans say the cuts are necessary to dial back on increases to the national debt. Democrats counter that tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy enacted during the Trump administration add over one trillion dollars to the debt annually.