Acting White House budget director Russell Vought is accusing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of risking a national default by insisting that a deal on spending caps be linked to legislation to raise the debt ceiling.
“The threat by Speaker Pelosi to oppose a debt limit increase until the administration agrees to Democrats’ $2 trillion in unaffordable spending increases is reckless and irresponsible,” Vought said in a statement.
{mosads}“With our nation already more than $22 trillion in debt, Congress should be working with us to reduce wasteful spending and decrease deficits. The administration has consistently urged Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting to increase the debt limit as soon as possible,” he said.
The White House floated the idea in April of moving legislation to increase the debt limit separately from a deal to raise the spending caps. If new caps aren’t put in place for 2020, then caps set up by the 2011 Budget Control Act would take effect in January.
They would reduce spending significantly compared to 2019 and Republican and Democratic lawmakers want to avoid this consequence, which is also known as sequestration.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said after a meeting with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans on Wednesday that the White House is now open to pairing a debt-limit increase with a spending caps deal.
“Our preference is if we reach a caps deal, the debt ceiling has to be included,” Mnuchin told reporters after the meeting.