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0 Former Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement ripping the new bipartisan budget deal as ‘smoke and mirrors’ while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his lieutenants are rushing to line up the votes to try to pass it.
Pence, who served in the House Republican leadership before serving as Indiana governor and joining Donald Trump in the White House, went after the deal in a statement from his Advancing American Freedom nonprofit.
He said the ‘small reforms’ in the deal would weaken the nation’s military.
His criticism comes a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis savaged the plan by saying the nation would still be ‘careening toward bankruptcy.’ Pence is expected to formally jump into the race for the White House soon, joining other Republicans jostling to try to strip away some of Trump’s mass of support in the GOP base.
‘The United States is staring down a debt crisis over the next 25 years that’s driven by entitlements, and nobody in Washington, D.C., wants to talk about it,’ Pence said.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley joined the pile-on among presidential contenders. ‘The best way to fix Washington’s spending addiction is to elect people who have not been part of the problem,’ she tweeted.
‘Adding at least $4 trillion to America’s $31 trillion national debt over two years without substantially cutting spending is no way to run our country’s fiscal affairs. Business as usual won’t get the job done.’
Former Vice President Mike Pence said a budget deal between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ‘uses Washington smoke and mirror games to make small reforms’
The poor reviews come after McCarthy said he spoke with Trump, who urged him to get a good deal, during negotiations.
Pence continued: ‘Congress’ debt limit deal doesn’t just kick the can down the road, it uses Washington smoke and mirror games to make small reforms while weakening our military at a time of increasing threats from foreign adversaries.
‘It’s time to be honest with the American people and get everybody to the table to restore fiscal integrity to our nation.
‘By ignoring the drivers of our national debt and avoiding honest conversations with the American people, President Biden and the Washington establishment continue to pile the burden of debt onto the backs of our grandchildren, and the American people deserve better.’
Pence, who campaigned in Iowa last week, is expected to formally announce a run for president
House Freedom Caucus members (L-R) Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) and Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) blasted the budget deal on Tuesday
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif. negotiated the deal, which suspends the debt limit until January 2025
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the nation was still ‘careening towards bankruptcy’ after a deal to suspend the debt limit and freeze spending at 2023 levels, with spending to rise 1 per cent the following year. He blasted the deal on Monday
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy now must assemble the votes to get the plan through the House. He is taking heat from House conservatives on the deal. The House Rules Committee was set to meet on the bill Tuesday
Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled the 99-page bill raising the debt ceiling to avoid the U.S. defaulting
Pence chaired the conservative Republican Study Committee while he was in Congress.
Days ago, he acknowledged the Trump administration’s own role in adding to the nation’s $31 trillion debt.
The trillions of dollars that we appropriated for families and businesses and health care in this country during Covid — it’s what government’s for during a time of national emergency,’ Pence told NBC news.
‘We could have done a better job of controlling spending under our administration,’ he said.
That statement hinted at how politics of debt limit battles can shift depending upon who is in power. Trump obtained debt limit increases from Democrats in Congress.
DeSantis voted for a debt limit increase as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
Pence’s
comments came as conservative House Freedom Caucus members lined up to oppose the bipartisan deal, which suspends the federal debt limit until January 2025, freezes next year’s funding at 2023 levels, and includes a 1 per cent increase for 2024 for non-defense programs.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
