During an interview with NewsNation on Thursday, House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) noted that then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tied fiscal and spending talks to raising the debt limit in 2019 and refused to pass a clean debt ceiling increase, and that Pelosi, along with President Biden, have opposed past debt ceiling raises without fiscal changes and that Pelosi and Biden did so back when the national debt was lower than it is now.
NewsNation Washington, D.C. Correspondent Joe Khalil asked, “You’re hearing Democrats say, look, when it comes to raising the debt limit, avoiding an economic catastrophe, there should be no negotiation. That should be by itself, let’s do it, let’s get over this. Why do you think they’re wrong?”
McCarthy said, “Because look what Speaker Pelosi said in 2019, that we would never pass a clean debt ceiling without doing something in the economy as to how we’re going to spend. Schumer said the same thing. President Biden has said as Senator, even Vice President, he had the Biden talks. This is what we have done every time. But what’s more important, when they would say that, we were only at $20 trillion in debt. Now, we’re at 32. It’s larger than our entire economy plus 20%. We’ve watched it. We’re at a tipping point. And this President wants to [spend even] more money.”
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