by Ben Whedon
The House Freedom Caucus on Friday outlined the terms by which it might agree to vote for an increase to the debt limit amid a budgetary standoff between House Republicans and President Joe Biden with a looming deadline to avert an unprecedented default.
Announcing their plans in a press conference, the conservative bloc indicated they would support an increase in the debt limit after Congress enacted legislation both to cut current spending and cap future expenditures.
Specifically, the group called for “ending President Biden’s $400 billion student loan bailout; rescinding all unobligated, unspent COVID-19 funds; recouping the $80 billion in IRS expansion funds, as well as billions of wasteful climate change spending in the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” and finding every dollar spent by Democrats that can be reclaimed for the American taxpayer.”
Just now, @freedomcaucus and I released an economic plan to shrink Washington and save America.
We must cut wasteful, weaponized, and woke spending programs. pic.twitter.com/MiBEp9WI1o
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) March 10, 2023
Moreover, the group seeks to cap federal discretionary spending at the same level of fiscal year 2022 for 10 years, with allowances for 1% annual growth, a move the group says will cut $131 billion in spending for fiscal year 2024 and save $3 trillion over the entire period.
President Joe Biden earlier this week announced his own budget proposal, which said would trim deficits by roughly $3 trillion over the next ten years as well. The president has countered that Republican plans would, by contrast, increase spending by roughly the same amount.
The Freedom Caucus, however, expressed optimism that their plan would put the nation on solid financial footing while protecting key entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
The U.S. hit its $31.38 trillion spending limit earlier this year, prompting Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to announce “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. Democrats have advocated for a clean increase to the debt limit while Republicans have sought to pair any increases with spending cuts so as to address the national debt.
The Freedom Caucus plan is merely the proposal of a bloc of Republican lawmakers and not the party as a whole.
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Ben Whedon is the night editor for the Just the News. He came to the company from Breitbart News and is a graduate of Washington and Lee University.
Photo “U.S. Capitol” by José Matute.
