Pocan Votes Against GOP Hostage-Taking Debt Ceiling Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after he voted against the Bipartisan Budget Bill:

“For months, I have been calling on Speaker McCarthy to put a clean debt ceiling bill on the floor to avoid bringing our nation to the brink of an unnecessary economic catastrophe, just as we did three times under President Trump and 78 times since 1960. Instead, he and his Republican colleagues chose to engage in hostage-taking, refusing to raise the debt ceiling to avoid default unless paired with devastating cuts to essential government programs. While I am relieved the President and Democratic Leadership were able to walk back the worst of the Republicans’ demands, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I was unable to support this final agreement due to remaining unanswered questions.

“This bill critically undercuts the appropriations process, one of the last processes in Washington where Democrats and Republicans work together. Severely restraining domestic spending while continuing to inflate unchecked defense spending for the Pentagon shows Republicans are not actually serious about addressing the deficit.

“With too many unanswered questions and unknown, undisclosed side deals, including a shortfall of $58 billion in promised domestic funding not explicitly guaranteed in the language of the bill for things like education, healthcare, and more, I could not, in good conscience, vote for this bill.

“In addition to my serious concerns about the impacts to the appropriations process and backroom deals, this bill expands SNAP work requirements for older Americans and threatens cash assistance for the lowest-income families, while simultaneously rescinding critical IRS investments intended to crack down on wealthy tax cheats. Moreover, this bill weakens key environmental and climate protections.

“While I am relieved that we will avoid an economic default, I remain steadfast that we never should have had to engage with an extreme MAGA Republican dominated caucus in hostage negotiations over Americans’ livelihoods to begin with. Looking forward, we should eliminate the unnecessary debt ceiling to avoid any question of the full faith and credit of the United States.”