Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Monday that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is “pretty close” to passing the debt limit bill.
Biggs spoke to Breitbart News as House Republican leadership hopes to soon pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or likely through March 2024. Although the bill has buy-in from most House Republicans and many House conservatives, Biggs and other House conservatives still have reservations.
Biggs, a former Freedom Caucus chairman, said the Republican leadership plan would save four to four-and-a-half trillion dollars, which means that it would still amount to a $17 to $21 trillion increase in the national debt.
He explained in a metaphor how the Republican plan would do little to tackle America’s debt crisis. “Whether you go off the cliff at 60 miles an hour, which we’re going to do, consider — we’re going off the cliff at 80 miles an hour, which is what the Democrats want to do — sooner or later … that you lay the land and it’s a crash land. You hit the ground and you have a crash.”
“We’re going to continue to grow the national debt, then we’re going to put this country in jeopardy, whether it’s inflation, inflationary pressure, or whether it’s, you know, bankruptcy pressure, economic pressure altogether,” suggesting that a little “nip and tuck” in the form of minor spending cuts would not amount to much of a difference in the long-term growth of the national debt.
Asked if he would inject more of the Freedom Caucus plan into the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, he said the Freedom Caucus got a “lot of what they asked for” in the debt ceiling bill.
Indeed, the Freedom Caucus, in their plan, called for rescinding unspent coronavirus aid, nixing increased funding for the IRS, cutting climate change spending, and more. The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 has many of these Freedom Caucus deficit-cutting proposals.
Instead, Biggs said that House Republicans should push for more “substantial cuts” so that the country does not have to continually raise the debt ceiling.
Although Biggs remains noncommital about the legislation, he predicted that McCarthy is likely “pretty close” to having the votes to pass the bill through the House. McCarthy and House Republican leadership hope to pass the debt ceiling bill and send it to the Senate so that they can force President Joe Biden to negotiate with McCarthy on a compromise debt ceiling provision.
The House Rules Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider the rules by which the House floor will vote on the Limit, Save, Grow Act, leaving little room to negotiate a package with more substantial cuts in the bill.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told Breitbart News last week that the debt ceiling bill is a step in the right direction, although he signaled that he would like to see stronger work requirements in the bill.
Biggs said that spending levels should be cut to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels considering that government revenue has dipped to pre-pandemic levels as well.
Despite his call for “draconian cuts” in the debt ceiling bill, Biggs said that McCarthy likely is “pretty close” to securing the passage of the legislation.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle, McCarthy said that every society “collapses” when they fiscally overextend themselves:
WATCH–McCarthy Sounds the Alarm over National Debt: “Every Great Society Collapses When They Overextend”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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