(Bloomberg) — The White House accused congressional Republicans of “unprecedented economic vandalism” Wednesday after an Arizona congressman said the US should decline to raise the debt ceiling, intensifying the rhetorical battle over the spending limit.
(Bloomberg) — The White House accused congressional Republicans of “unprecedented economic vandalism” Wednesday after an Arizona congressman said the US should decline to raise the debt ceiling, intensifying the rhetorical battle over the spending limit.
The White House seized on comments made by Andy Biggs — an Arizona Republican who said he did not support increasing the debt ceiling – to accuse Republicans of risking a default that would “needlessly plunge the country into economic chaos, collapse, and catastrophe while giving our competitors like China an historic boost.”
“This president and the American people will not stand for unprecedented economic vandalism,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. “Full stop.”
Biggs made the comments in a tweet Tuesday, in which he said Democrats should accept the consequences of federal spending levels.
Most Republicans, including leaders in the House, have said they are willing to raise the debt ceiling, but only if Democrats agree to significant cuts to federal spending. The White House and Senate Democrats have said they do not intend to negotiate over the issue.
The exchange exemplified an escalating war of words over the debt ceiling, a showdown that economists have warned could throw financial markets into turmoil. A 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling — a statutory limit that constricts the federal government’s ability to borrow, even to finance existing spending — prompted Standard & Poor’s to issue the first-ever downgrade of the US government’s credit rating.
Read more: What’s the Debt Ceiling, and Will the US Raise It?
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week the department will begin taking special accounting maneuvers Thursday that will allow the government to meet its obligations through at least early June.
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