Conservative Republicans demand big spending cuts in exchange for raising debt ceiling

A group of far-right-wing Republicans Friday issued a laundry list of draconian spending cuts and other demands in exchange for even considering an increase in the debt ceiling.

The House Freedom Caucus insisted that their members won’t vote to raise the debt limit unless the White House cuts discretionary domestic spending by about 25% and agrees to keep it there for a decade.

“If you don’t like what we’ve offered — bless you, that’s fine. What have you got to offer?” said Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the group’s chair, flanked by more than a dozen fellow lawmakers.

The conservative group also demanded President Biden reverse his student loan forgiveness program and enact a grab bag of right-wing proposals on climate changes, public assistance and other issues that Democrats will not accept.

Even though Perry portrayed their demands as a mere starting point for negotiations, the ultimatum complicates the goal of avoiding a damaging game of political chicken over lifting the debt limit to avoid a default on the nation’s debt.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a right-wing firebrand, said the Freedom Caucus should pressure GOP leaders to adopt the hard-line stance.

“It’s time that [we] actually use the tools that we fought so hard for House Republicans to have in this Congress,” Boebert said.

President Biden hit back hard at the group, scoffing at the proposed deep spending cuts and their rejection of tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans.

“I don’t know what there’s much to negotiate on,” Biden declared during a statement about the latest rosy jobs report.

He said the proposed cuts would slash funding for “cops, firefighters; it means health care. We just have a very different value set.”

The GOP-led House must raise or suspend the debt ceiling in the coming months or the U.S. would default on its financial obligations, a step that economists say would likely trigger a catastrophic global recession.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell both have said even haggling over the debt ceiling will reduce confidence in the U.S. economy and do serious damage.

Raising the debt ceiling was once a routine step taken by members of both parties. The spending programs that cause the debt were enacted by both parties.

But right-wing Republicans want to use the must-pass debt ceiling increase as a leverage as they seek to force Biden to bow to their unrelated demands for spending cuts in programs they don’t like.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met with Biden at the White House last month but there has been little sign of any progress since then.

The White House unveiled its initial budget proposal but Republicans have not revealed their own plan, leading Democrats to accuse them of grandstanding.