Mitt Romney Erupts Over Trump’s Vow To Negotiate Debt Ceiling

(NewsReady.com) – Former President Donald Trump doesn’t agree with the Biden Administration’s attempts to push the US even further into debt, and he’s calling for a radical solution. Many senior Republicans have doubts, though. Even as Trump’s 2024 election campaign starts to pick up steam, there’s growing tension between him and the GOP leadership.

GOP senators disavow Trump on debt ceiling, signaling growing rift https://t.co/rvyqNWIIsm pic.twitter.com/E9pQUWhoKX

— The Hill (@thehill) May 12, 2023

The Biden Administration is still trying to push Congress into approving a massive increase in the federal debt limit, but Republican lawmakers are insisting on spending cuts to bring government spending back under control. If they don’t reach an agreement and increase the debt limit, the US will run out of money sometime this year — perhaps as early as June 1 — and be forced to default on its debts. The administration is terrified of that, but at a May 10 CNN town hall, Trump urged Republicans to let it happen if President Joe Biden doesn’t agree to rein in spending. He told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that we “might as well do it now” because it’s inevitable, and added that the US “is being destroyed … by very stupid people.”

Trump’s comments have come under fire from other leading Republicans. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) said Republicans need to compromise with Biden and slammed Trump for being “untethered to the truth.” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said nobody thought a default was a wise policy, adding that Trump doesn’t represent her view, and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “Nobody thinks default is a good idea. Nobody.”

Even House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) disassociated himself from the former president’s words, saying that House Republicans “made sure default is not on the table” by voting through $1.5 trillion in new debt — and $4.8 trillion in spending cuts. He pinned the blame for talk of default on President Biden but, at the same time, left Trump isolated from the GOP mainstream.