Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and other Republicans introduced legislation Thursday that would require dollar-for-dollar spending cuts for any increase in the federal debt ceiling, indicating that President Trump might face resistance from the GOP if he doesn’t pursue deficit reduction.
“If we’re going to raise the debt limit, we should also rein in spending and address our massive debt,” Portman said. “That’s just common sense.”
Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress this month to raise the debt ceiling. After previously being suspended, the limit on debt was reset March 16 at just under $20 trillion. Mnuchin can move government accounts around to free up debt until sometime in the fall.
Portman’s legislation, the Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act, is co-sponsored by Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Mike Lee of Utah. It would codify the “Boehner Rule,” the standard once pronounced by former House Speaker John Boehner that any increase in the debt limit sought by the Obama administration would have to be matched by equivalent spending cuts over the next decade.
Ultimately Republicans were not able to impose that rule on former President Barack Obama and instead suspended the debt ceiling in the face of conflict over spending levels. Portman introduced similar legislation in the Obama era.
It could be difficult for the Trump administration to meet the rule, given the promises it has made relating to tax cuts and infrastructure spending. The White House this month called for major cuts to federal agencies, but it is seeking to redirect the savings from those spending reductions to the Pentagon.
