Indiana’s U.S. senators took starkly different approaches to the debt ceiling agreement approved by the Senate 63-36 Thursday night, with Sen. Mike Braun calling it a step toward “financial ruin” and Sen. Todd Young referring to the Fiscal Responsibility Act as “a compromise that should be just an initial step toward addressing our nation’s fiscal challenges.”
Prior to voting “no,” Braun, one of 31 Republicans voting against the bill, issued a statement condemning it: “This deal makes our current bloated spending levels the new baseline going forward, setting us further down the path to financial ruin. We need deep spending cuts, and Congress shouldn’t get paid until we deliver a real budget that seriously addresses our massive debt.
“There’s more drama here than usual, but sadly the play is going to end the same way: the big spenders in both parties getting together to increase the size of the federal government.”
Young, one of 17 Republicans to support the bill, issued a statement explaining his vote early Friday: “This legislation makes modest but substantive spending and budget reforms, and it ensures that the United States will not default on our debt obligations.
“Given that Republicans do not control the White House or the Senate and have only a slim majority in the House, this bill does not go as far as I and many others would like. This legislation is a compromise that should be just an initial step toward addressing our nation’s fiscal challenges.
“Ultimately, if we want to truly tackle our debt and spending problems, we must re-open serious, bipartisan conversations about reforms to the mandatory spending programs that make up two-thirds of the federal budget.”
The measure passed the House of Representatives in a late session Wednesday. President Joe Biden, who plans to address the legislation in a speech Friday evening, is expected to sign it at the White House on Saturday.
