U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) has joined colleagues in co-sponsoring the End the Threat of Default Act (H.R.415), which would repeal the national debt ceiling.
“Weaponizing the debt ceiling and using it as a pawn in partisan budget negotiations is dangerous and repeatedly brings our nation to the brink of default, which would be disastrous to the U.S. economy – something we’ve witnessed as recently as 2011 when Republicans created a debt ceiling crisis that resulted in the first-ever downgrade to the U.S. credit rating,” Foster said. “The government has an obligation to pay its bills. Threatening to default on our debt is the same as ordering an expensive meal at a restaurant, eating it, and skipping out without paying.”
Foster maintains there should be a conversation regarding overall spending, with the nation’s full faith and credit never compromised.
Bill proponents claim that the ceiling restricts the Treasury from paying for expenditures already made by Congress while consistently requiring Congress to raise the ceiling before it is reached and resulting in threats of defaulting on the government’s obligation to pay its bills.
Additionally, legislators in support of the measure noted the United States is one of two democratic countries with a statutory debt ceiling.