On this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) insisted Senate Republicans would give House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the negotiating leverage he needed on the debt ceiling.
The Utah Republican said despite Democrats having a majority, they did not have the necessary votes to overcome a filibuster.
“Republicans are standing united, thanks to your efforts in the Senate. Tell us how many votes you have and what you’re expecting this upcoming week,” host Maria Bartiromo said.
“OK, so, Martha, as Kevin McCarthy, as speaker of the House, meets with the White House, it’s imperative that he arrive in a position of negotiating power,” he said. “And, to that end, we have got not only the Republican Conference in the Senate backing what the Republicans in the House passed week before last, but we have also now got a solid bloc of Republicans, more than enough to bloc any so-called clean debt ceiling bill from moving forward. Anything that raises the debt ceiling without substantive spending and budgetary reforms, we have now got 43 Republicans who have signed a letter, two more, who have said they would stand with us, while not signing the letter, to refuse to bring debate to a close on any clean debt ceiling increase bill.”
“What that means … is that they can’t do this,” Lee added. “Whenever you have got 41 senators who are unwilling to bring debate to a close on any legislation, it cannot pass. We have now got more than enough to stop exactly the kind of legislation that Joe Biden wants. What that means is that the White House is going to have to come to the table and enter into real talks with the House Republicans, starting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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