House Republicans prepare emergency plan for breaching debt limit

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Washington Post

House Republicans are preparing a plan telling the Treasury Department what to do if Congress and the White House don’t agree to lift the nation’s debt limit later this year, underscoring the brinkmanship newly empowered conservatives will bring to the high-stakes negotiations over averting a U.S. default, according to six people aware of the internal discussions.

The plan, which was previously unreported, was part of the private deal reached this month to resolve the standoff between House conservatives and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the election of a House speaker. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), a leading conservative who helped broker the deal, told The Washington Post that McCarthy agreed to pass a payment prioritization plan by the end of the first quarter of the year.

The emerging contingency plan shows how Republicans are preparing to threaten to not lift the nation’s debt ceiling without major spending cuts from the Biden administration. Congress must pass a law raising the current limit of $31.4 trillion or the Treasury Department can’t borrow anymore, even to pay for spending lawmakers have already authorized. Economists warn that not raising the debt limit could cause the United States to default, sparking a major panic on Wall Street and leading to millions of job losses.

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Friday said that the Treasury Department will begin “extraordinary measures” next week to ensure the federal government is able to meet its payment obligations but that it cannot guarantee the United States will make it beyond early June without defaulting. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated Friday that the administration will not negotiate over the debt ceiling.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023/01/13/debt-ceiling-gop-plan/

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The GOP hates and wants to destroy America.

[Ford_Prefect]

1. The GOP has gone full rogue and needs to be deported with immediate effect.

Somewhere with zero cell service and limited fresh water would be fair exchange.

[BOSSHOG]

2. "REPUBLICANS ARE PREPARING A PLAN"

Be afraid my fellow Americans. Your fiduciary future is on the line. The clowns are driving the car and they will work on it when it breaks down.

[groundloop]

3. It's gonna' be a long two years.

[NickB79]

4. Ultimately, a default is the only way to stop this insanity once and for all

The GOP has become so extreme and detached from reality that the only thing that will end this fucking Groundhog Day of RW threats is to let them break the global economy just like they've threatened so many times.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. No, Dark Brandon initiating a three branch constitutional crisis is the solution

Biden needs to invoke the 14th amendment that stipulates the full faith and credit of the US shall not be questioned, and order Yellen to keep paying the bills.

If SCOTUS overrules him (but I don’t think they will because of the language in the constitution), Biden should say, “you and what army is going to stop me?”, and welcome congress’s impeachment hearings.

The key is that Brandon, er, Biden, must wait until the last minute to invoke the 14th, after the markets have begun gyrating in anticipation of default, and the GOP biggest donors start shitting themselves. Then his executive action will be seen as the only rational course to take.

Biden and the Dems will need spines of steel the next few months.

They must not blink first.

[docgee]

19. So the debt ceiling is unconstitutional?

Why hasn't it been challenged yet?

[Fiendish Thingy]

23. Clinton said he would in the 90's, but the GOP caved and lifted the ceiling. Nt

[NickB79]

20. You lost the pitch when you invoked "rational course"

The GOP is completely irrational.

No matter what Biden does, it won't stop them from trying to keep using the threat of default, until we actually get a default.

[Fiendish Thingy]

24. Well, the GOP would have to wait for another president

If Biden invokes the 14th, and orders the treasury to keep paying the debt, regardless of what SCOTUS says, congress can’t force a default, they can only impeach him.

[MarcA]

26. Agreed. This is how to deal with these Terrorists.

They are the truly useless eaters and breathers.

[Joinfortmill]

28. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

[LaMouffette]

5. I know what their plan is: Use the debt crisis to force cuts to social security, Medicare, Medicaid,

Obamacare, food stamps, and education, along with military aid to Ukraine, and then, wait for it . . . blame the Democrats for the cuts!

The only "social service" that will remain intact will be Trump's trillion-dollar tax cuts for the wealthy.

[liberalmediaaddict]

7. They just want to destroy the economy to hurt Biden

Thinking if they help cause a recession Biden will get all the blame and Trump will get re-installed back into the white house.

[liberalmediaaddict]

6. Democrats could have dealt with this during the lame duck

However Manchin thought it would be wrong to raise the debt ceiling using budget reconciliation with only Democrat votes.

So now the House Republican nihilists are going to hold a loaded gun to the world economy for the next 2 years.

[jgmiller]

8. I just don't buy it that McCarthy won't cave

As soon as it looks like he can't get anythng done with the debt limit he's going to get calls from his VERY rich campaign contributors who understand economics and they are going to tell him that he is playing with their money and if he wants to ever see any of their money again he will increase the debt limit.

Are there crazy millionaires and billionaires that don't understand economics? Of course there are but there are many more that do and they frequently donate to both parties. McCarthy thinks he only has to keep the crazies happy and the rest of the GOP will go along, he's possibly correct there. What he's going to realize is that the source of money he has used to buy the members he needs is far more powerful and scary than MTG.

You don't mess with rich people's money.

[nakocal]

14. The problem is that the rich donors that stop paying McCarthy

will be replaced by rich Russian oligarchs who are already paying many of the republicans. And Citizen United allows that to happen.

[Mawspam2]

9. So to appease the nutters, McCarthy will...

...allow an initial vote to shut down the government, let that sit for a week while Yellen stalls, then pair with the Dems and semi-sane Reps to pass a minimal increase just so they can do it all again in six months.

[Beautiful Disaster]

10. lol they don't have any place to tell the treasury what to do. Good luck fuckwads.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. That's the important bit, many paragraphs down

For the plan to be binding on the Treasury Department, it would have to pass not only the House but also the Democratic-controlled Senate, and President Biden would have to sign it into law.

So this could end up with them just saying "this is what we'd cut if we were really in power". One more quote from the article:

“Any plan to pay bondholders but not fund school lunches or the FAA or food safety or XYZ is just target practice for us,” a senior Democratic aide said

[brooklynite]

11. My wife (Treasury) thinks this will be disastrous.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. For the country, or for the Republicans?

The article says they can't force the Treasury what it cuts without a law also passed by the Senate and President Biden (which sounds right to me). Does she think the House Republicans will nevertheless insist that, since they have a plan of cuts, they'll never allow the debt limit to be increased, thus forcing some form of cuts or default? Or is she saying this will expose the Republicans as people who want to cut (X) vital function for a show?

[James48]

12. "Extraordinary Measures "

Affect ME starting next week. (Jan 19).

I’m a retired federal employee. Next week, the government will start using MY RETIREMENT account to fund government operations.

I don’t want them to- but they can.

Details:
https://www.govexec.com/management/2023/01/treasury-implements-extraordinary-measures-debt-default-looming-soon-june/381803/

[Joinfortmill]

29. Horrible.

[jmowreader]

15. When we get Congress back...

…the first order of business is repealing two things: every tax cut dating back to 1964, and the debt ceiling.

[Captain Zero]

16. Odd. What they are able to PLAN for us?

No health plan ever showed up from them. No Infrastructure plan ever showed up from them. No Platform ever showed up in 2020.

Ah, but now, well here's OUR plan for America to be run by the Treasury department when the government defaults due to OUR inaction. Just thought we would help you out here, as they EXTORT their way through the legislative process.
/s, not /s.

[newdayneeded]

21. Rinse and repeat

As soon as they have a little power then the debt limit is a major issue. During the trump years, not so much.

[CrispyQ]

22. What's the point of a national defense budget if you don't take care of your people?

I asked a right wing relative that question & his answer was that people need to take care of themselves. I said, "You mean like the corporations take care of themselves?" He changed the subject.

[Politicub]

25. America is at the mercy of a little more than a dozen people...

The six people who gave republicans the majority in Congress, and the Republican appointees to the Supreme Court.

It seems like a major flaw in our system that a handful of people can burn the whole thing down.

[moniss]

27. People need

to realize that collapsing the economy and creating chaos is their desired goal. It is not about governing or fiscal restraint. In an era of collapse and chaos the vultures who fund this madness can scoop up assets etc. for pennies on the dollar and the people they own in elected office can make huge power grabs/reorganization that will cement their stranglehold on the country.

[Turbineguy]

30. GOP will not be happy if

they are prevented from harming millions of Americans and fucking up the economy.

I mean, if you can't harm somebody, why be a republican?