In the News

Majority Whip Tom Emmer joined CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss House Republicans’ responsible debt ceiling plan that limits federal spending, saves taxpayer money, and grows the economy.

Click here or above to watch the interview.

Whip Emmer on House Republicans’ debt ceiling plan:

“House Republicans under Kevin McCarthy, Joe, are not going to let this country default on its responsibilities. McCarthy has been trying to get the president, Joe Biden, to negotiate on a debt ceiling deal since the beginning of this Congress. And he’s been told at least a couple of times by the president that he’s willing to negotiate, but there’s been absolutely no movement. So House Republicans are going to do what we’ve been doing since the beginning of this Congress – we’re going to lead. We’re going to pass a debt ceiling proposal off the House floor and send it over to the Senate. And we’ll hopefully, either get that passed into law or the president and this administration will finally want to talk about it.”

“This proposal was a bottom-up proposal. It’s not one side of the conference or the other. This came from every single member of our conference. If you look at the proposal, it starts with going back to pre-pandemic spending levels, FY22 baseline and build from there with a 1 percent cap over the next 10 years. That’s actually a Joe Manchin idea. The work requirements for Medicaid, for SNAP, for TANF benefits, those are actually Clinton-era work requirements that Joe Biden himself worked for. So this is not a one-or-the-other side of our conference. This is every single member in the conference,  and that’s why I believe they’re going to make history this week by passing it, sending it over to the other side, and making sure that we put this country on a better footing for the future.”

Whip Emmer on the possibility of a stalemate:

“The only way this doesn’t work is if President Biden and the Democrats who are in charge decide they are going to allow this country to default. Republicans are not going to allow the country to default, and I would suggest that every fiscal reform in the last 30 years has been done the very way that we are proposing. And hopefully the president and Chuck Schumer and others on the other side of the aisle recognize this is not only the right thing to do, this is the responsible thing to do for the American people and our future, Joe.”

“Once the Republicans pass this, we will show you that we are not willing to allow this country to go into default. Then, all the responsibility is going to be on the other side of the building and with the administration. We’ve got to get this done for the American people, and hopefully Joe Biden will come up with some ideas because he hasn’t had any so far and Chuck Schumer has been completely absent from the process. Hopefully that will change after Republicans pass this proposal this week.”

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