Florida Governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ripped the bipartisan debt ceiling bill reached between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and President Biden as "totally inadequate" on Monday, arguing that it will do nothing to stop the country from "careening toward bankruptcy."
Both McCarthy and Biden reached a final agreement on the debt limit bill on Sunday, averting a potentially catastrophic default on the country’s financial obligations just days ahead of a June 5 deadline.
In an interview on "Fox & Friends," DeSantis, who officially announced last week that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said the tentative bill requires a "massive amount of spending" that will add trillions in U.S. debt without offering any significant spending cuts.
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"Prior to this deal, our country was careening toward bankruptcy and after this deal, our country will still be careening toward bankruptcy," DeSantis said.
"And to say you can do $4 trillion of increases in the next year and a half, that is a massive amount of spending," he added, referencing the $4 trillion debt increase required for the U.S. to reach in order to extend two years of borrowing, as detailed in the bill.
"I think that we’ve gotten on a trajectory here really since March of 2020 with some of the COVID spending. It totally reset the budget, and they are sticking with that, and I think that is going to be totally inadequate to get us in a better spot."
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DeSantis joined a chorus of prominent Republicans who have criticized the deal since the details of the agreement were published Sunday night. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a key member the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), suggested Tuesday that he would consider ousting Kevin McCarthy from leadership as House speaker over the bill if Republicans do not stop it in committee.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., vowed he would do everything within his power to "undo" the debt ceiling bill and the "disaster" he said it would be for America's defense.
"[I] Have total disgust for political leaders’ decision to make it remotely possible to gut our national security apparatus at a time of great peril. Take this absurd idea off the table," he wrote on Twitter.
South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace announced on Tuesday that she is a "no" vote on the debt ceiling deal, writing that "Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants."
DeSantis said the bill is nothing more than a Band-Aid for politicians to get "through the next election."
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"In Florida, we run big budget surpluses. We have a $1.2 trillion economy, but our debt is only $17 billion, second lowest per capita in the country," he said. "We make tough choices, and we make sure that we look forward to the long-haul. Obviously, in Washington, they do these cycles to just get through the next election, and that is one of the reasons why they continue to fail."
Meanwhile, Republican leadership has been touting the debt ceiling deal negotiated with Biden as a win for conservatives.
The House Rules Committee was meeting Tuesday to prepare the debt ceiling bill for a House vote.
