43 GOP Senators Reject Raising Debt Limit Without Spending Cuts.

Senate Republicans Stand Firm on Debt Ceiling Negotiations

A group of 43 Republicans in the U.S. Senate have made it clear that they will not support raising the debt ceiling without significant spending and budget reforms. This stance aligns with their House counterparts and sets the stage for a White House meeting to address the federal debt ceiling, which has been a point of contention for months.

United in Support of Spending Cuts and Budget Reform

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) led the group of Republicans in drafting a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Calif.), stating that the Senate Republican conference is united with the House Republican conference in support of spending cuts and structural budget reform as a starting point for negotiations on the debt ceiling. Almost all Republicans in the Senate signed the letter, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“It is now clear that Senate Republicans aren’t going to bail out Biden and Schumer, they have to negotiate,” Lee said in a statement accompanying the letter. “I thank my colleagues for joining my effort to emphasize this point in the clearest possible terms.”

White House Meeting and Stalemate

President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on May 9 to discuss a path forward on the federal debt ceiling. However, the White House has signaled that there would be little compromise from the president.

“[Biden] is not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on May 2. However, she added that the president “is willing to have a separate conversation about their spending, what they want to do with the budget.”

Biden and McCarthy have been locked in a standoff over raising the debt ceiling since January. The president has called on Congress to pass a hike to the government’s borrowing limit without conditions, while McCarthy has insisted on limiting future spending.

House Republicans passed their own solution to the debt crisis on April 26 with the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which would lift the federal borrowing cap by $1.5 trillion while enacting sweeping spending cuts. However, Democrats have rejected this proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Schumer has been working to advance a clean, two-year extension of the debt limit in the Senate. He has stated that Democrats will decide whether to put the extension up for a vote after the upcoming White House meeting. Schumer, McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have also been invited to the debt ceiling discussion.

• Senate Republicans stand firm on debt ceiling negotiations
• Group of 43 Republicans oppose raising the debt ceiling without substantive spending and budget reforms
• Republicans in the Senate and House are united in support of spending cuts and structural budget reform
• President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy are scheduled to meet on May 9 to discuss the federal debt ceiling
• The White House has signaled little compromise from the president on the debt ceiling
• House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which Democrats have rejected
• Senate Majority Leader Schumer is working to advance a clean, two-year extension of the debt limit in the Senate