Coons: ‘It’ll Be Tough’ to Do Budget Process with Cuts in Debt Limit Bill

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said that the debt limit bill does push Congress to follow the appropriations process, but doing so will “be tough to do so with the reduction in spending that will happen under this bipartisan agreement.” And that the bill “makes positive progress” on reducing the deficit.

Coons said, “There is some extra initiative in this bipartisan deal for us to fully complete our annual appropriations process. It’ll be tough to do so with the reduction in spending that will happen under this bipartisan agreement. But, frankly, some of the core priorities that I had, continuing to provide robust support for our veterans, for example, to fully implement the PACT Act that we passed last year, protecting the incentives for the transition to a cleaner energy economy under the Inflation Reduction Act, those things were in there and I am positive that getting this done and avoiding the threat of default is in the best interest of my state on our country.”

Later, after viewing a clip of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stating that the bill helps curb Democrats on spending, Coons stated, “I would say that both parties, presidents of both parties, majorities of both parties have shown an enthusiasm for spending in different ways. Under President Trump, Sen. McConnell, the Republican Leader, led and championed one of the biggest reductions in federal revenue — or you could describe it differently — one of the biggest tax cuts in American history. Our balance sheet, whether we have an annual deficit, whether we have a growing debt, is the balance between revenue in and spending out. And for the period that President Trump was in the White House, we raised the debt ceiling without any focus on curbing spending or reduction in our deficits. That that has now become an obsession with President Biden in the White House strikes me as being more a focus on disliking the areas of spending that Democrats prioritize, the environment, education, health care, and preferring spending that Republicans prioritize, tax cuts and defense. Frankly, we need to reduce our deficits. President Biden has a strong record on reducing deficits already, over his predecessor. And I think we can agree that this is a bipartisan compromise that makes positive progress in that direction.”

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