NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As the House side of Capitol Hill engages in a debt ceiling showdown with the Biden Administration, Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall is watching with interest.
"Joe Biden has maxed his credit card," Marshall said. "With his accelerated, reckless spending, he's already hit the debt limit that Congress approved several years ago. The treasurer cannot print any more bonds, borrow more money, without Congress saying yes, you can do that. This is our opportunity to force him to balance a budget."
Even with a Democrat majority in the Senate, Marshall still feels it's important for Republican senators to engage on the issue.
"It's our opportunity to say, if you want us to blow through this debt ceiling, then we need to figure out how much money we're going to spend this year and we can't keep doing what we've been doing," Marshall said. "We spent $475 billion last year on interest. Our long term national debt, the interest we are paying is the greatest threat America faces to our long term national security. When we're paying this much in interest, you have no money left to build roads and bridges, to put in high speed internet, to build new hospitals, all those types of things. This is our opportunity to address the issue."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to meet with the administration on Wednesday.
"He needs to know that the Senators have his back," Marshall said. "We will support him through this, that we are going to go to the mat with the President on this issue. We are willing to take on this problem now, because we think the long term consequences of this national debt to my grandchildren is worth having this fight today over. Why would we punt this down the road? I'm ready to take accountability and face the problem head on, right now."
The U.S. hit the current debt ceiling number almost two weeks ago