Former President Donald Trump said that the federal government should default on its debts unless the Biden administration agrees to “massive” spending cuts.
It’s a terrible idea – so terrible that even Trump’s fellow Republicans are dismissing the idea as “too risky to seriously consider.” Take a look.
Republicans weigh in on Trump’s bold suggestion
“I say to the Republicans out there – congressmen, senators – if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re gonna have to default,” Trump said. Fortunately, Republican lawmakers were not receptive to Trump’s reckless messaging.
Here’s how a few Republicans responded to Trump’s call for a default.
“I don’t think anybody suggesting that ‘we have to do a default’ is wise policy, wise strategy for this country,” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) said. Murkowski added that Trump’s perspective would not influence her own perspective. Murkowski also argued that the most productive thing would “to encourage Biden and McCarthy to work together to reach a compromise rather than pushing a default as a viable option,” according to The Hill.
“Right now, the talks are going on with the top four and of course the White House, and now the staffs. What we want to do is encourage that every step of the way,” Murkowski said.
Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) agreed, saying that “most people recognize we need to strike a deal here” and that Trump’s idea wasn’t likely to resonate amongst the GOP. “I don’t think we want to go there with the potential consequences,” Thune said.
Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx.) agreed, too. “Nobody thinks default is a good idea. Nobody.”
Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, also expressed skepticism towards Trump’s proposal. “The only thing I see right now is that the Republicans made sure default is not on the table. We’ve raised the debt limit,” McCarthy said. “The only person talking about default right now is President Biden. His actions, he’s ignored this problem, just like he’s ignored the border, that means more Americans are gonna die from fentanyl. You had 11,000 people just yesterday come across.”
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) said “Yeah, well, we can’t do a default but we should find a way to reach a compromise. That’s what you expect a president to do.” Romney, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2012, said he believes Trump is rooting for a default because it would serve his own interests. “If there were a default, the one person who might be tempted to celebrate politically would be Donald Trump, because he’d say, ‘If I were president, this would have never happened,” Romney said. Romney added that Trump’s CNN performance showed someone “untethered to the truth and untethered to the constitutional order.”
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said that Trump’s call to default were predictable. “It doesn’t surprise me he’d say that. The president is a candidate trying to run on a very populist base, and I think he feels like that will position him in place he gets more votes, and I think he’ll say whatever he needs to, to get more votes.”
Fair enough, but it’s still terrible advice from a guy who is currently dominating the GOP field of 2024 hopefuls.
Fortunately, however, whereas Republicans were previously afraid to deviate from Trump’s own opinions or viewpoints, the outpouring of disagreement over Trump’s default statement suggests that maybe the GOP is ready to move on from their corrupted, demagogic former president.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
