Republicans just made their latest move in the ongoing drama to raise the debt ceiling, saying they want to cut $1 trillion in spending. But instead of introducing 1 bill, they just published over 500 proposals on areas they might want to cut spending, with some including typos like “Educcation” and “Enironmental.”
As reported by Business Insider, Republicans and Democrats have been going back and forth for months over how to keep the US from defaulting on its debt — something that could happen as soon as July.
After President Joe Biden released his budget, he’s been calling on GOP lawmakers to do the same and detail what spending they want to cut in a potential debt ceiling deal.
Now, Republicans have some ideas — or rather, over 500 proposed bills for limiting funding to a slew of federal government programs and agencies.
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The bills would limit funds allocated for salaries for independent agencies, everything from CDC programs to help prevent birth defects to the EPA’s superfund responsible for cleaning up hazardous substances.
Several of the bills seemed to contain typos, including one “to provide for a limitation on availability of funds for Department of ‘Educcation,’ Student Aid Administration for fiscal year 2024,” and another “to provide for a limitation on availability of funds for ‘Enironmental’ Protection Agency, Inland Oil Spill Programs for fiscal year 2024.”
Earlier this week, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy wrote a letter to Biden requesting that the president meet with him to negotiate a deal to keep the US on top of paying its bills, saying in the letter that he is “incredibly concerned that you are putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy by insisting upon your extreme position of refusing to negotiate any meaningful changes to out-of-control government spending alongside an increase of the debt limit.”
But the White House has vehemently pushed back on the GOP stalling to produce a budget as they continue to float ideas to raise the debt ceiling.
President Biden is in no rush to meet, especially with no budget proposal from McCarthy. When reporters asked him on Tuesday if a meeting was in the cards, Biden said, “Well, I don’t know what we’re gonna meet on.”
Representative Andy Biggs, who introduced the 500-plus bills, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
