Ernst says ‘substantial’ spending cuts are needed before she’ll support House debt ceiling bill

DES MOINES, Iowa (KTIV) - Both President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are speaking hopefully of the likelihood of an agreement to raise the government’s debt limit and avert an economically chaotic federal default.

Yet, House Republicans are pushing debt ceiling talks to the brink. They left town Thursday for a long Memorial Day recess. They’re just days out from a debt default if Congress fails to act to raise the borrowing limit.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, of Iowa, said there need to be “substantial” spending cuts before she’ll support the House debt ceiling bill in the Senate.

“We know that we can’t default as a nation, but it does need to be significant,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, (R) Iowa. “Iowans work very hard for the dollars that go into their pocket, and they don’t want to turn around and send those dollars right back to the federal government to be spent on things that they don’t support. There is a lot of spending, we’ve seen trillions of dollars flowing out from the federal government under Democratic rule, one-sided Democratic rule, for the past number of years. We can’t continue to do this. It’s unsustainable. It’s untenable. And our Iowa voters and workers, they really don’t want to see that anymore. So it does have to have some substantial cuts. We’ll see where the President and Speaker McCarthy of the House land. And that is likely the negotiated deal that will be supported in the Senate.”

Ernst also spoke about whether a default on the nation’s debt could impact the payment of military benefits.

“Let’s be very clear about this, that the benefits that are owed to our military members will be paid,” said Ernst. “Even the House Republicans have stated that in their negotiations, that is not something that is up for negotiations. It is a threatening scare tactic coming from the Democrats. We will, of course, own the budget, we will of course make those decisions on how the bills are paid, as we’re passing different spending bills, those that have earned those benefits, they will continue to receive those benefits.”

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