Hakeem Jeffries Already Has A Plan To Hand Kevin McCarthy A Big Debt Ceiling Defeat

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:57 pm

House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) made it clear in an interview with NPR that Democrats have a plan to raise the debt ceiling without the approval of Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Video of Leader Jeffries on NPR’s Morning Edition:

Jeffries said about the potential of negotiating with Republicans on the debt ceiling, “We’ve incurred these bills. We need to pay them. In fact, in the 247-year history of the United States of America, with the debt that we have, 25% of it was incurred during the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency. And so, one, we’re not going to be lectured about fiscal responsibility. Two, we want to make clear to the American people that the debt ceiling discussion is all about paying bills that have already been incurred. And three, we are not going to negotiate with individuals who have a gun to the head of the American people, the economy, Social Security and Medicare, by threatening to default on our debt.”

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Jeffries said when asked about a Democratic plan to raise the debt ceiling, “We will be able to, at the end of the day, convince a handful of reasonable Republicans in the House to do what the business community throughout America have suggested needs to be done. What the U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes needs to be done. What Wall Street says needs to be done. Which is to make sure we pay America’s bills that have already been incurred.”

Democrats Won’t Negotiate With Republicans On The Debt Ceiling Because They Have A Plan

President Biden has already been reaching out to moderate House Republicans on the idea of teaming up with Democrats to pass a clean debt ceiling increase. The far-right members of the majority House GOP caucus want a debt ceiling crisis because they have misread the situation and think that Democrats will panic and give them spending cuts to programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Rep. Jeffries wouldn’t publicly say that Democrats will pass a debt ceiling increase with the help of moderates if he didn’t already have assurances that some moderates will be on board if a default looks likely.

A clean debt ceiling increase would be a major defeat for Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene, but it appears that Democrats are well positioned to get the nation through the House Republicans’ first planned crisis.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association