Sen. Rand Paul Proposes Alternative to Debt Limit Agreement

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) focuses during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 14, 2022. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation on May 30 offering an alternative to the debt limit agreement reached by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden.

Paul’s proposal would raise the debt ceiling by only $500 billion, compelling Congress to resolve America’s debt problem with a more permanent solution in the near future. In addition, the measure would impose automatic budget adjustments each year moving forward.

“Sixty percent of Americans say Congress should only raise the nation’s debt ceiling if it cuts spending at the same time. I would guess the Americans answering that poll meant real cuts in spending, not an annual increase of one percent above already bloated levels of COVID-19 spending,” Paul wrote in a statement.

“Bold actions must be taken to defeat our mounting national debt, and my conservative alternative to the Biden-McCarthy deal gives us a real opportunity to get our fiscal house in order,” he added.

Paul’s amendment would replace the extant language of the Biden-McCarthy “Fiscal Responsibility Act” with several provisions, including replacing the blanket two-year debt ceiling suspension with a $500 billion increase, compelling Congress to return to the table to do its job and find solutions to the cascading debt problem highlighted by the debt ceiling.

The measure also places discretionary spending limits with total spending caps that reduce expenditure by 5 percent annually.

According to the Kentucky lawmaker, if government spending persists at current levels, this proposal would result in automatic cuts of $302 billion in Fiscal Year 2024 and $241 billion in Fiscal Year 2025, for a total of around $545 billion over the two-year period.

If the plan were put into action and the government keeps to the plan for five years, the lawmaker asserts that the federal government would have a balanced budget in Fiscal Year 2028 for the first time since Fiscal Year 2001.

“The Biden-McCarthy Fiscal Responsibility Act is anything but responsible,” Paul said on Twitter. “Only in Washington is spending more money than we used to spend considered a ‘cut.’”

Paul isn’t alone in his frustration with the agreement on the debt ceiling. The House Freedom Caucus vowed a “reckoning” if the GOP passed the debt limit deal.

McCarthy and Biden have promoted the measure as a compromise, but Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and his fellow House Freedom Caucus members argued on May 30 that the deal gives Republicans “nothing in return” for the $4 trillion it would add to the national debt.

Roy said at a May 30 news conference in front of the Capitol, “If you’re out there watching this, every one of my colleagues, let me very be clear: Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal.”

McCarthy’s office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.