Donald Trump wants Congress to eliminate the debt ceiling before he takes office so that voters don’t realize that he will increase the debt. However, it seems unlikely that he will get his wish.
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Getting elected speaker next week will already be a challenge for incumbent Mike Johnson (R-LA) because some of the GOP’s fiscal hawks simply do not trust him to rein in government spending, which is something Republicans always promise their voters but rarely do.
If even a handful of them hold the line, the speaker election could quickly descend into chaos, which would grind all additional House business to a halt.
That is what happened in 2023, when it took five days and 15 rounds of voting to get then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) elected as speaker.
He was removed later in the year in part because he took some positions (most notably the negotiation of a continuing resolution that prevented a government shutdown and an extension of the debt ceiling to 2025) that a few members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus objected to.
This then resulted in another chaotic attempt to elect a new speaker, from which Johnson emerged after a three-week struggle.
And it is precisely the debt ceiling vote that began this mess that could now prove to be a real headache for the GOP again.
On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump took to social media to blast McCarthy, whom he did not mention by name but called “a good man and a friend of mine,” for extending the debt ceiling, which dictates how much money the government can borrow.
“[It] will go down as one of the dumbest political decisions made in years,” Trump stated. “There was no reason to do it – NOTHING WAS GAINED, and we got nothing for it.”
The president-elected also noted that, back then, this was President Joe Biden’s problem, and not the GOP’s.
Under Democratic presidents, Republicans have frequently used that borrowing limit as a weapon. If it is not raised, the government could default on its debt obligations, which could have catastrophic consequences for the global economy.
Now, however, the shoe is on the other foot.
With the GOP about to control the White House and both chambers of Congress, it will be up to them to address this problem… after just having promised voters that they would get spending under control.
It goes without saying that increasing (or even eliminating) the limit on the amount of money the government can owe does not exactly send the message, “We’ll get the country’s fiscal house in order.”
Therefore, Trump wants the GOP-led Congress to deal with the issue in the two weeks before he takes office.
“The Democrats must be forced to take a vote on this treacherous issue NOW, during the Biden Administration, and not in June,” he stated.
However, if the debate over such a debt ceiling increase in January bleeds into the vote for speaker, it may not be possible for Johnson to hold his position.
Therefore, the smart play for him is to ignore Trump… again.
Earlier this month, the incoming president had demanded that House Republicans add a debt ceiling elimination to a continuing resolution that kept the government open, only for GOP negotiators to defy him.
That won’t sit well with Trump.
“[The Democrats] should be blamed for this potential disaster, not the Republicans!” he stated on Sunday.
It seems unlikely that he will get that wish. While Democrats generally favor the elimination of the debt ceiling, they have no incentive to address this issue until later this year. And then, when that fight happens, they will be the ones who can exact a heavy cost for their votes.
