Lawmakers Insist Budget Cuts Would Help Raise Debt Ceiling, Avoid Going Into Default

The debt crisis consuming political leaders in Washington is raising dueling concerns for Americans — the concern that the nation, for the first time ever, could go into default, and also the concern that avoiding default will mean cutting funding for important programs.

Republicans are insisting that budget cuts must be part of any deal to lift the debt ceiling but said they don't have to be draconian.

"If everybody gives a little, nobody has to give a lot," Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK1) said in an interview Tuesday.

Congressman Hern, who chairs the important Republican Study Committee, said the Limit, Save, Grow Act the House passed two weeks ago would go a long way toward restoring fiscal sanity in America by repealing much of the president's climate agenda, nixing his student debt forgiveness plan, clawing back unspent COVID-19 funds, and imposing what he says would be reasonable budget cuts -- returning discretionary spending for FY 2024 to FY 2022 levels.

"We’re talking about setting spending levels back to where we were just last September," Hern said, "we’re not talking about going back to the Fifties the way [President Biden] likes to make everybody think."

But as the president and congressional leaders began discussing a possible way forward at the White House Tuesday afternoon, the size and impact of spending cuts remained a real concern for many.

"We are very concerned," said Stacy Dykstra, "it’s actually part of why we’re here."

Dykstra is CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. She and leaders of the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and Hunger Free Oklahoma were making rounds on Capitol Hill Tuesday, meeting with the state's delegation and pointing out that one sixth of the state's population -- about 650,000 people -- relied on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to avoid going hungry at some point in 2022.

"And so we’re just asking, think about who this world most greatly affect before you make decisions about what has to be cut," Dykstra said, "but I’ll tell you, we understand how hard it is."

Rep. Hern says the federal government provides a lot of assistance and Republicans want to continue to do so; they just want to be smarter and more efficient in providing help.

"Consistently, year after year, we’re spending about one trillion American taxpayer dollars to help those who need help," said Hern, "and what we’re saying in this debt limit bill is that we want people to start working toward getting a job and helping themselves get a hand up so they can get back on their feet and experience the American dream."

As for SNAP itself, also known to many as Food Stamps, Hern says he's a strong believer: "I’m a person who grew up on food stamps back when I was young. We would not have eaten without them."

Hern said, while Republicans would like to add work requirements for some SNAP recipients, the program isn't in jeopardy.

"We really empathize with the hard decisions that are having to be made," Dykstra said, "and we have full faith they’re going to make the right decision."