Debt ceiling deal is a hollow victory | Editorial

When the dust finally settles on the debt ceiling debate, there will be no winners.

Yes, President Joe Biden can say he avoided the most draconian spending cuts in education, research, Social Security, and Medicare proposed by the Republicans. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can say he limited federal largesse, fought off cuts in defense spending, and imposed some work requirements in aid programs.

But the chaotic process has been an unnecessary distraction that exposed Washington at its dysfunctional worst.

The House passed the measure Wednesday night. It now goes to the Senate for approval, and Biden is expected to sign it before the June 5 deadline, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would run out of money to pay its bills.

Once the process is finalized, both parties will be able to claim victory — even as far-left progressives and hard-right conservatives grumble — but a fight over the financial obligations that lawmakers and presidents have already made is no way to run a government.

» READ MORE: The debt ceiling war waged by reckless GOP has already undermined America’s global standing | Trudy Rubin

Still more troubling, the self-inflicted crisis left the United States on the brink of an unprecedented default that would trigger global consequences. Government failure to pay its obligations would send world financial markets tumbling, lead to mass layoffs, and likely send the economy into a recession.

The political gamesmanship also has further undermined America’s standing as an international leader. Both China and Russia are poised to use the threat of default to argue the U.S. political system is unstable, the national intelligence director warned.

Even with the full faith and credit of the United States on the line, some hard-right GOP members recklessly threatened to derail the bipartisan debt and spending deal reached by Biden and McCarthy.

“Not one Republican should vote for this bill,” said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, an influential ultraconservative.

Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina said McCarthy should be ousted from the speakership for negotiating such weak spending cuts. “Nobody could have done a worse job,” he said.

Reining in deficits is a worthy undertaking. After all, the total national debt is more than $31 trillion. The majority of Americans believe that reducing the deficit should be a top priority for the president and Congress.

But using the threat of default as a hostage ploy is not a responsible way to negotiate a spending plan. In fact, it may be time to do away with the debt ceiling altogether. The growing recklessness within the GOP shows that some lawmakers can’t be trusted to ensure the nation does not default on its financial obligations.

» READ MORE: Debt limit: The nihilism is the point | Will Bunch Newsletter

Denmark is the only other democratic country that has a similar debt limit. But Danish lawmakers do not use the borrowing limit as a political weapon.

Indeed, there is plenty of blame to go around in both political parties for the growth in the U.S. deficit. Since 2001, Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Biden have increased the debt by roughly a combined $25 trillion.

But Republicans only seem to worry about deficits when Democrats are in the White House. (See the massive tax cuts during the Bush and Trump administrations that added trillions to the national debt.) If anything, the GOP’s sudden concern about reducing spending is mainly a temporary performance act used to generate campaign contributions and stir up the voter base.

Pointedly, the current deal will do very little to reduce the U.S. deficit. Any serious effort to reduce the national debt will require a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. But that would require both parties to put aside the gamesmanship and govern like grown-ups.

That would be a true victory worth pursuing.