McCarthy's devil deal comes to light: Letting the nation breach the debt ceiling

One element of that secret deal Kevin McCarthy made with the Freedom Caucus for his speakership has emerged, and it is absolutely bonkers. The plan is to allow the debt ceiling to be breached, and then to direct the Treasury Department on how to prioritize debt payments. The GOP has been promising since before last fall’s midterm election that they would make debt ceiling a fight, and would demand those cuts. They followed through with new House rules to reinforce that. What they hadn’t said out loud was that they were willing to do the unthinkable: Force a debt ceiling breach.

The debt ceiling is a congressionally imposed limit on the level of debt that the federal government can assume. (It’s currently $31.4 trillion.) That limit is purely a construct of Congress, implemented in 1917 to make responding to WWI needs simpler. Prior to that, the executive had to go to Congress to authorize specific loans or to allow the Treasury to issue certain debt instruments and individual debt issues for specific purposes. Imposing the debt ceiling was a way of allowing Treasury the flexibility to issue bonds and take on debt as it needed to in the war, up to a limit. Since 1917, the debt ceiling has never been breached.

Now the GOP wants to do it, but supposedly with a plan. (Because if the maniacs are known for anything, it’s their planning ability. Apart from Jan. 6.) The Washington Post broke the story of these talks Friday, reporting that six sources involved in negotiations confirm that McCarthy agreed to pass a payment prioritization bill in the next few months. 

The House GOP will try to destroy the nation and install an authoritarian rule in the aftermath. The way to stop them is to get the House back. Donate $6 apiece to help flip these six vulnerable Republican seats so we can do that in 2024!