President-elect Trump is gearing up for a showdown over the debt limit with conservative lawmakers who are pushing for significant cuts to federal spending. This could complicate Trump’s ability to advance his agenda next year. Last week, thirty-eight House Republicans rejected Trump’s request to extend the nation’s borrowing authority for two years, raising doubts about Trump’s influence over GOP conservatives. These conservatives are now insisting that Trump agree to substantial spending cuts in order to gain their support for raising the debt limit in 2025.
Senator Rand Paul emphasized the need for spending reductions, pointing out that the nation is heavily overspending. He praised the defeat of Trump’s proposal to raise the debt limit without spending cuts, indicating the leverage fiscal hawks will have over the White House in the future. Speaker Mike Johnson also proposed a plan to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $2.5 trillion in mandatory spending cuts, but the narrow Republican majority in the House leaves little room for error.
Republican senators are skeptical about Johnson’s ability to rally his conference around any legislation to raise the debt ceiling, whether through budget reconciliation or regular order. The challenges of passing a budget reconciliation package next year are compounded by Democrats‘ expected obstruction. Trump, in an effort to rein in rebellious House conservatives, has threatened to support primary challenges against lawmakers who opposed his previous bid to raise the debt limit.
The federal government is projected to reach the debt limit on Jan. 1, with Treasury Department officials able to delay action until the summer through „extraordinary measures.“ GOP strategist Brian Darling believes Trump will need to give conservatives the spending cuts they desire while pressuring moderate Republicans to support these reforms. Failure to unite Republicans on raising the debt ceiling and cutting spending could force Trump to negotiate with Democrats, who are likely to demand increased social spending in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling. Die Demokraten hatten im Jahr 2019 mehr Hebelwirkung, weil sie das Repräsentantenhaus kontrollierten.
Trump hat bisher signalisiert, dass er lieber vollständig auf die Stimmen der Republikaner vertraut, um seine Agenda im Rahmen des Haushaltsaussöhnungsverfahrens zu verabschieden, was es ihm ermöglichen würde, einen demokratischen Filibuster im Senat zu umgehen.
Er forderte den Kongress auf, die Schuldenobergrenze vollständig abzuschaffen, damit er nächstes Jahr nicht erneut unter Druck gerät, eine Verlängerung der bundesstaatlichen Kreditaufnahme zu verhandeln – entweder indem er den von den Demokraten geforderten Ausgabenerhöhungen zustimmt oder den von Konservativen geforderten massiven Kürzungen zustimmt.
Er sagte dem Sender NBC News in einem Interview, dass die Abschaffung der Schuldenobergrenze das „klügste, was [der Kongress] tun könnte“, wäre.
„Ich würde das voll und ganz unterstützen“, sagte er.
Quelle: Link