Florida’s GOP D.C. delegation split on debt ceiling deal
WASHINGTON, D.C (FLV) – Nearly half of Florida’s Republican members of Congress broke with their party’s leadership regarding a $4 trillion agreement that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
Alongside the extension of the debt limit until 2025, the agreement incorporates a series of spending reductions requested by Republicans, while simultaneously increasing defense spending and funding for veterans.
Under the deal, which is officially entitled “The Fiscal Responsibility Act,” spending for the 2024 fiscal year would remain relatively stable. Furthermore, for the year 2025, the agreement would enforce a cap on spending increases, limiting them to a maximum of 1%.
As per the agreement, medical care for veterans would receive full funding at the levels outlined in President Joe Biden’s proposed 2024 budget request.
Additionally, the deal includes provisions to pause the allocation of funds for hiring new Internal Revenue Service agents, while also reclaiming approximately $30 billion in unutilized COVID-19 relief funds previously approved by Congress.
However, some conservative members of Congress, including many representing Florida, vehemently oppose the deal for suspending the debt limit for two years rather than setting a new one as well as not making enough spending cuts.
The agreement reached between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., would temporarily suspend the government’s debt limit for a duration of two years, instead of establishing a new limit. This would mean that the issue of the debt ceiling would not arise again until after the 2024 presidential election.
Below are the U.S. representatives from Florida who voted for the deal:
- Aaron Bean, Republican
- Gus Bilirakis, Republican
- Kathy Castor, Democrat
- Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Democrat
- Mario Diaz-Balart, Republican
- Neal Dunn, Republican
- Scott Franklin, Republican
- Lois Frankel, Democrat
- Maxwell Frost, Democrat
- Carlos Gimenez, Republican
- Laurel Lee, Republican
- Jared Moskowitz, Democrat
- John Rutherford, Republican
- Maria Salazar, Republican
- Darren Soto, Democrat
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat
- Daniel Webster, Republican
Below are the U.S. representatives from Florida who voted against the deal:
- Vern Buchanan, Republican
- Kat Cammack, Republican
- Byron Donalds, Republican
- Matt Gaetz, Republican
- Anna Paulina Luna, Republican
- Brian Mast, Republican
- Cory Mills, Republican
- Bill Posey, Republican
- Greg Steube, Republican
- Michael Waltz, Republican
- Frederica Wilson, Democrat
While the deal passed in the House, it has yet to be voted on by the Senate.
Florida Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have already expressed concerns regarding the agreement, with Scott already declaring he will vote no.
Rubio stated that the “defense number is a problem for me,” adding that he is “torn a little bit about it.”
Scott criticized the deal as providing “no clear path to less inflation or a balanced budget.”
“I cannot support this bill,” Scott said. “Getting serious about America’s debt isn’t something we can compromise on.”
Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, slammed the debt ceiling deal made between U.S. House Republicans and President Joe Biden, stating that the country is still “careening towards bankruptcy.”
“To say you can do $4 trillion of increases in the next year and a half – I mean, that’s a massive amount of spending,” DeSantis said.
Former President Donald Trump stated that he would “get it fixed and get it fixed properly in two years.”
Asked about his comments at a CNN town hall where Trump advocated allowing a default to happen if conservative demands were not met, Trump said, “I would have done that.”
