WASHINGTON—Congress is currently considering the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which may include debt ceiling-related provisions. The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America released a joint statement about the latest developments on Capitol Hill.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts:
“Congress is currently exploring an atrocious idea that would compromise us in the present and the future by making America weaker while eroding checks and balances in Congress. The idea is to combine the NDAA with a complicated process to raise the debt ceiling or lower the required number of votes to do it, damaging both our fiscal security and the Senate filibuster.
“The national debt is one of the top threats to our security, and it remains a tool for the elites of Washington, D.C., to bankrupt the American people and fund an administrative state increasingly wielding power against the citizenry. Meanwhile, the filibuster is a cornerstone of the Senate that prevents one side from seizing power and imposing their rule on the nation. Trading the filibuster for a higher national debt is an idea so bad that it could only happen in Washington.
“Our national defense is a vital issue and should not be corrupted by the fiscal and social insanity of the left, and threats to the filibuster cannot stand. The Heritage Foundation is committed to defeating this terrible idea.”
Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action, added:
“The National Defense Authorization bill gives our service members the tools necessary to stand up to China and a nuclear Iran and to keep America first. Now, the left in Congress is working to hold that bill hostage in order to raise the national debt limit, changing the bill from a vehicle for national security to a vehicle for surreptitiously funding far-left spending packages. This is an unacceptable addition to the annual defense package, which would undermine our national security, confuse voters and constituents, and put America last.
“Whether Congress attaches a debt limit increase or a procedural motion to lower the voting threshold for that increase, the effect is the same—raising the cap on our skyrocketing national debt even further. Furthermore, lowering the threshold for that vote would be a significant step to weaken and eventually destroy the Senate filibuster, and sets a precedent for consequential legislation to be used as a political football to jam through radical policy items.
“Under no circumstances should members of Congress vote for a package that combines the NDAA and any vote regarding the debt ceiling. Americans deserve better.”
