On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Senate Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) criticized House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for his handling of the debt ceiling and defended his support of using the debt ceiling for leverage in 2017 by stating that “We make speeches, we posture,” but “when you’re talking about the Speaker and the president and the majority leader, you’re really getting down to serious business.”
After Durbin stated that McCarthy is engaging in “a dangerous game” on the debt ceiling, co-host John Berman asked, “Is it a dangerous game just to talk?”
Durbin answered, “Certainly, there should be a discussion, but it should be clear that this discussion is of the budget and appropriation bills. We do that every year, to start the process of the appropriations and spending bills, you have to establish the standard of how much money is involved and that is what the debate is all about — should be all about.”
Berman then asked, “So, it’s not like there haven’t been discussions in the past over the debt ceiling. And in 2017 — we found this in POLITICO this morning — when President Trump was in office, there was a discussion about whether Democrats should try to get something from a vote to raise the debt ceiling. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, ‘Everything’s negotiable’, ‘Why would we make it easier for them to pass unpaid-for tax cuts by giving away a vote on raising the debt ceiling?’ Then, POLITICO says, Senate Minority Whip at the time, Dick Durbin agreed, adding, ‘Put me in that camp’ of Democrats looking for leverage. So, why was it okay to talk then, but not now?”
Durbin responded, “It’s okay to talk about leverage, but when you’re talking about the Speaker and the president and the majority leader, you’re really getting down to serious business. We make speeches, we posture, we do these things, but we know in our heart of hearts what has to be done, what the responsible thing is. What Speaker McCarthy did was wait until literally the last moment, and, without any committee hearings, moved this bill forward, got just barely enough votes to pass it in the House, and now is saying, let’s wait and see how close we can get to the debt. I hope that doesn’t happen. We cannot — we must avoid default.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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