Senator Murray Slams House GOP's Refusal to Pay Nation's Bills

(Washington, D.C.) — Today, at Senate Democrats’ weekly stakeout press conference, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, spoke about the stakes of House Republicans’ continued refusal to pay our bills and the disastrous harm Speaker McCarthy’s Default on America Act would do to our nation’s ability to compete with China, grow our economy, and invest in American families.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“Thank you, Senator Schumer. I want to make very plain what is happening here in Congress. The Secretary of the Treasury wrote to Congress yesterday and she told us that if House Republicans continue to refuse to pay the nation’s bills, then we may see a default on our debt as early as June 1st.

“If Republicans force this country to default—for the first time ever in our nation’s history—then our economy will crash. American workers will lose their jobs, seniors will lose big on their retirement savings—it’s just gonna be painful.

“Speaker McCarthy’s big plan—his number one economic priority—is to threaten economic catastrophe and hold the full faith and credit of the U.S. hostage. And in exchange, they want us to pass their Default on America Act so that they can cut essential government services that we all rely on. They’re gonna slash funding for American veterans, make our country less safe, and surrender our economic competitiveness to China.

“House Republicans do not want to pay our nation’s bills—like we have done, on a bipartisan basis, so many times before—unless they can take a chainsaw to our economy with draconian cuts that will kill nearly eight hundred thousand jobs and send us careening into a recession.

“I want to take a moment to make clear to the American people: if you think this bill wouldn’t affect you—you’re wrong. Maybe your family never needed SNAP benefits like mine did, but this proposal is a disaster for everyone.

“The MAGA Republican Default on America Act would slash vital funding that keeps our planes in the sky, our trains on the rails, and our food and medicine safe. The MAGA Republican cuts would pull cops off our streets and drive a wrecking ball through our border security, making it easier for deadly fentanyl to flood our streets.

“And if that weren’t bad enough, House Republicans want spending caps that will lock in even more cuts due to inflation for the next decade. That is ten years of China and our competitors investing in their economies, growing stronger, and gaining ground while House Republicans tie our hands and force us to fall further and further behind.

“A lost decade for America—that is what MAGA Republicans are proposing.

“I mean, this is just so backwards. China is not debating whether to wreck their credit or tank their economy. So why are House Republicans? Why do they want to threaten economic catastrophe and put us behind?

“House Republicans need to understand that holding the majority means they need to actually govern—it is past time to get serious about working with Democrats to simply pay our nation’s bills and avoid a catastrophic default as soon as possible.

“Speaker McCarthy needs to start working with us to keep America competitive, to keep our economy growing, and to keep investing in our families, and in our future.

“Here in the Senate, we are hard at work on bipartisan spending bills to move our country forward—not back. That’s what we should all be focused on right now.”