Se Denver News

Washington, D.C. —  On April 27, Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, joined House Democratic Leadership to speak out against House Republicans’ Default on America Act.

Congressman Neguse said: “I serve on the Rules Committee, and I participated last night in the markup that we had on the rule, going into late into the morning, about 2:30 [am]. I don’t know if I’ve participated in a hearing during my time in Congress where hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance was on more full display than yesterday with extreme MAGA Republicans putting forward a bill, the Default on America Act, that would impose cruel, draconian cuts that would harm everyday Americans and then denying that those cuts would indeed happen. 

“Just to give you a sense of the stakes, and I think the choice, the unthinkable choice, that Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans have put forward to the American people, on the one hand, they’ve threatened a Republican debt default. You’ve heard from [House Budget Committee] Ranking Member Boyle, the consequences, catastrophic consequences, were that to happen. Unemployment doubling. Hundreds of millions of jobs across our county, lost. Stock market? Crashing. Prices? Rising, on everything and for everyone, as seniors lose social security benefits, veterans lose benefits. And on the other hand, the other side of that coin, what do they offer? A ransom note in the form of the Default on America Act. Legislation that would kick millions of Americans out of their homes. Cut food benefits for the most vulnerable among us. Lay off hundreds of thousands of first responders, teachers across our country. And, again, increase costs on working families. That is not a choice that the American people should be forced to make. And that’s why this legislation, the Default on America legislation, as Ranking Member Boyle articulated, is dead on arrival.” 

His full remarks are below and can be watched HERE.

If the House Republicans’ Default on America Act were implemented, the results would be catastrophic for Coloradans in the 2nd District. This bill would:

• Put 290,000 people at risk of losing Medicaid coverage in Colorado.

• Threaten access to food assistance for 11,000 people aged 50-55 in Colorado.

• Eliminate preschool and child care for at least 3,500 children in Colorado.

• Increase housing costs for at least 8,100 people in Colorado.

• Make college more expensive for at least 117,400 students in Colorado.

• Eliminate at least 3 air traffic control towers in Colorado.

If House Republicans decide to default, this would:

• Kill about 7,800 jobs in CO-02 alone. Nationwide, a default could kill more than 7 million jobs.

• Jeopardize Social Security payments for 69,000 families in CO-02.

• Put health benefits at risk for 198,000 people in CO-02 who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, or Veterans Affairs health coverage.

• Increase lifetime mortgage costs for the typical homeowner in Colorado by $78,000.

• Raise the costs of a new car loan for the typical American by $800.

• Threaten the retirement savings of 88,500 people near retirement in CO-02, eliminating $20,000 from the typical retirement portfolio.

“I serve on the Rules Committee, and I participated last night in the markup that we had on the rule, going into late into the morning, about 2:30. I don’t know if I’ve participated in a hearing during my time in Congress where hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance was on more full display than yesterday. With extreme MAGA Republicans putting forward a bill, the Default on America Act, that would impose cruel, draconian cuts that would harm everyday Americans and then denying that those cuts would indeed happen.

“Just to give you a sense of the stakes, and I think the choice, the unthinkable choice, that Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans have put forward to the American people. On the one hand, they’ve threatened a Republican debt default. You’ve heard from Ranking Member Boyle, the consequences, catastrophic consequences, were that to happen. Unemployment doubling. Hundreds of millions of jobs across our country, lost. Stock market? Crashing. Prices? Rising, on everything and for everyone, as seniors lose social security benefits, veterans lose benefits. And on the other hand, the other side of that coin, what do they offer? A ransom note. In the form of the Default on America Act. Legislation that would kick millions of Americans out of their homes. Cut food benefits for the most vulnerable among us. Lay off hundreds of thousands of first responders, teachers across our country. And, again, increase costs on working families. 

“That is not a choice that the American people should be forced to make. And that’s why this legislation, the Default on America legislation, as Ranking Member Boyle articulated, is dead on arrival. Dead on arrival in the Senate. And at the end of the day, what we expect from our colleagues on the other side, is to get serious. To not hold our economy hostage.” 

So there are now some revised projections that the debt ceiling could be reached weeks sooner than initially anticipated. As the leadership here, what is your message to people hearing this and who are concerned about the direction that things appear to be headed?

“I would echo the remarks of the Chairman and would simply say that Americans should be deeply disappointed, and I think disheartened by the actions that extreme MAGA Republicans have taken in the House thus far in the first 100 days. And of course, culminating now in holding literally our entire economy hostage with the demands that they made with these cruel and draconian cuts that will harm everyday Americans. Obviously, the stakes are very high, House Democrats will continue to put people over politics and push our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to see the light. I would say, just to underscore the point that Chairman Aguilar made because this came up during Rules last night. 

“Again, I don’t know how many of you watched the proceedings at 1 am, but just to give you a sense, I suspect not many, and I don’t blame you for that, but to give you a sense of the room. Midnight in Washington. Where are House Republicans? In a backroom, in the Rules committee, literally a cigar smoke filled room, cutting deals that would bankrupt the American people and the only reason they were able to ultimately get that Default on America bill within the rule out of committee and to the floor today is because of a deal they negotiated literally at 1:30 in the morning last night to preserve President Biden’s biofuel tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. So it’s a question that I hope all of you ask some of our colleagues on the other side from the most extreme wing of their caucus why they made the decision at the 11th hour to support President Biden’s climate provisions. I think it’d be an interesting question to ask.”

Original source can be found here.