United States Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on Tuesday what he calls the "conservative alternative" to the deal recently reached to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default on the nation's debt. According to the senator's office, the alternative "will be offered as an amendment to the so-called 'Fiscal Responsibility Act' deal and would replace existing language with responsible reforms and necessary cuts."
Sen. Paul noted on Tuesday that "sixty percent of Americans say Congress should only raise the nation’s debt ceiling if it cuts spending at the same time," something the Kentucky Republican said he interprets as desire among the American people for "real cuts in spending, not an annual increase of one percent above already bloated levels of COVID-19 spending."
"Bold actions must be taken to defeat our mounting national debt, and my conservative alternative to the Biden-McCarthy deal gives us a real opportunity to get our fiscal house in order," Sen. Paul added, hence his decision to put forward "responsible reforms and necessary cuts."
Today I announced the conservative alternative to the Biden-McCarthy debt deal. Bold actions must be taken to defeat our mounting national debt, and my conservative alternative gives us a real opportunity to get our fiscal house in order. https://t.co/BV2Ht9pQfC
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) May 30, 2023
The amendment would remove and replace existing language in the Fiscal Responsibility Act to make the following changes to the legislation:
- Replaces the blanket 2-year suspension on the debt ceiling with a $500 billion hike forcing Congress to come back to the table to do their job and figure out solutions to the cascading debt issue highlighted by the debt ceiling.
- Replaces the caps on discretionary spending with caps on total spending (the sum of discretionary and mandatory spending) that cuts five percent spent each year.
- If the government continues to spend at current rates, this plan would trigger an automatic $302 billion cut in FY24 and another $241 billion cut in FY25 for a total of $545 billion in the two-year period.
- If the government adhered to these caps for five years, by FY28 the federal government would have the first balanced budget since 2001.
- Creates a mandate that growth in federal outlays may at no point exceed the growth in revenue from the previous fiscal year.
Sen. Paul's "conservative alternative" to the debt deal comes after he digested the contents of the bill text and concluded that conservatives "have been sold out once again."
Fake conservatives agree to fake spending cuts. Deal will increase mandatory spending ~5%, increase military spending ~3%, and maintain current non-military discretionary spending at post-COVID levels. No real cuts to see here.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 28, 2023
Conservatives have been sold out once again!
The Fiscal Responsibility Act is set to be brought to the floor for consideration on Wednesday, though a growing number of lawmakers from both chambers have expressed their firm opposition to the legislation as it's written based on the agreement between Biden and Congress.