House GOP leaders, Granger, Moolenaar commend debt ceiling deal

U.S. House GOP leadership, along with Reps. Kay Granger (R-TX) and John Moolenaar (R-MI), applauded their chamber’s passage of legislation that will end partisan spending and avoid a default on the national debt.

The House on Wednesday voted to advance the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, H.R. 3746, to the U.S. Senate for action, which passed the legislation late Thursday. The bill also includes the largest spending cut in history, saving more than $2 trillion in taxpayer dollars. 

“At the beginning of this process, liberal Democrats were expecting they would raise the debt limit and continue their mindless spending spree with no holds barred,” said Rep. Granger, chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. “Instead, Speaker McCarthy forced an agreement that achieves the change in direction the American people want to see in Washington. 

“In spite of the fact we conservatives control only one of the three parts of the legislative process, Speaker McCarthy won several important concessions and was clear with the president that unchecked spending must stop and common-sense reforms must be adopted to get our financial house in order,” Granger said.

The congresswoman noted that the agreement paves the way for appropriations bills to be signed into law for the next two fiscal years, with funding prioritized for the United States military and veterans. 

“At the same time, this agreement reduces and reallocates lower-priority spending,” she said. 

Additionally, an enacted H.R. 3746 would fully protect Social Security and Medicare; streamline and remove barriers in environmental permitting for energy projects; cuts $1.4 billion that President Joe Biden wanted for more IRS agents; utilizes nearly $28 billion of unspent COVID money; and would place new work requirements for welfare recipients that reinforce work ethic, grow the nation’s workforce, and reduce welfare spending, she said.

“Some of our friends are critical that we didn’t get more. I wanted more too,” Rep. Granger said. “But we got the change in direction we need, and we can’t lose that. We conservatives need to build on this win. It’s a step in the right direction that my constituents are demanding, and that is why I voted for the bill tonight.”

U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and U.S. Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) issued a joint statement on Wednesday, pointing out that Congress will spend less money next year than this year for the first time in a decade — without adding new taxes on families.

“New roads, bridges, highways, and pipelines will be built sooner and faster because of this bill’s permitting reforms, the first in 40 years,” the lawmakers said. “Work-capable adults without dependents will get a job, learn new skills, and earn a paycheck because of this bill’s new welfare reforms. Families will save money and America will be less dependent on China because this bill cuts red tape.” 

Reps. McCarthy, Scalise, and Emmer also said that passing the bill is “a crucial first step” to putting America on the right economic track. 

“As House Republicans build on these structural reforms, the American people can be confident that we will never give up on them,” they said.

Rep. Moolenaar also voted to pass the legislation, which included his proposal to eliminate unused COVID-19 funding that is sitting at federal departments in Washington, D.C.

“Today’s legislation is a win for the American people because it ends the broken status quo in Washington and stops the Biden spending spree that made Americans poorer with record-high inflation,” Rep. Moolenaar said. “The bill also includes my proposal to save billions of dollars in unused COVID funding and avoids a disastrous default on the national debt. 

Finally, he added, the bill brings accountability back to the government and saves billions of dollars by adding work requirements for welfare for able-bodied Americans.

“Democrats are paying a steep price in this bill. They never wanted work requirements, they never wanted spending cuts, and they never wanted permitting reform that unleashes American energy,” the congressman said. “All those items are in this bill because of Republicans and strong conservative leadership in the House of Representatives.”

In fact, according to Rep. Scalise, one of the major Republican wins in the Fiscal Responsibility Act is that “we claw back billions in unspent COVID money appropriated to federal agencies during the pandemic.”

“I want to thank Rep. John Moolenaar for proposing these rescissions of unused COVID funds with his legislation, H.R. 564, the Saving Taxpayers’ Money and Paying America’s Debt Act, and for his leadership in addressing the debt crisis,” Rep. Scalise said. “This is a significant step in House Republicans’ mission to cut government waste, reduce the deficit, and save taxpayers money.”