Speaker McCarthy Puts Nation’s Economy at Risk

House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) today released the following statement on the introduction of House Republicans’ harmful spending cuts bill:

“With the introduction of legislation that couples meeting our debt limit obligations with slashing funding for programs that American families rely on, Speaker McCarthy risks our economic security and sets us on a path to kick hundreds of thousands of families out of their homes, strip away access to the child care parents rely on to go to work, pull cops off the street and teachers out of classrooms, and make our nation and our borders less secure.

“For weeks, I have heard my colleagues claim defense, Veterans health care, and border security funding would not be subject to their caps. This reckless bill does not give that assurance. It either puts defense or Veterans funding on the chopping block or cuts other critical government programs by more than 22 percent—a cut far lower than the 2022 level. As hard as they might try, Republicans cannot have it both ways. This legislation undermines our military readiness, puts Veterans’ health and wellbeing at risk by delaying access to health care and benefits they have earned, and limits our ability to stop the flow of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into our communities.

“These caps are cuts. They would ensure that resources for critical programs 10 years from now remain below the levels in effect today. That’s 10 years of cuts for less than one year of preventing a default. On the House Floor today, Speaker McCarthy claimed this plan will ‘restore fiscal discipline.’ There is nothing fiscally disciplined about trying to leverage the full faith and credit of the United States to force indiscriminate cuts in the annual spending process—a process under which we funded critical programs with bipartisan support for both fiscal years last Congress. Show us you have the votes to pass all 12 appropriations bills making these spending cuts.

“This bill’s Budget Control Act framework recreates the looming cloud of sequestration both Democrats and Republicans fought to erase. It all but guarantees more chaos and increases the likelihood of going from one debt limit and government shutdown fight to the next.”

More information on how House Republican proposals harm millions of Americans can be found here.