‘Regular Americans’ Unworried About Govt. Shutdown

Firebrand Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said most Americans are not worried by the idea of a government shutdown.

If the White House and Republican-led House of Representatives fail to strike a deal in the next eight days, the government risks defaulting on its debt for the first time in United States history. If Congress does not raise the $31.5 trillion debt limit, it could lead to catastrophic consequences, including a government shutdown. The U.S Treasury has been pleading with lawmakers to act, saying the U.S. could run out of money to pay bills as early as June 1, something economic experts say would trigger national and global economic crises.

Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy both said that a bipartisan deal is the only way to move forward as they have been locked in a stalemate for weeks. However, Democrats want to increase spending on certain programs and are calling for Republicans to raise the limit without preconditions as Congress has done numerous times in the past. Republicans, meanwhile, are holding firm on their vow not to raise the limit without cutting spending. A deal needs to pass both the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate.

Newsweek reached out via email and social media to representatives for Greene and the U.S. Treasury.

As the clock ticks down, McCarthy on Wednesday said he would utilize a legislative rule that requires the House to review and vote on a bill within 72 hours. His party’s Limit, Save, Grow Act aims to raise the debt ceiling only if the national debt is reduced by introducing spending caps. The measure also calls for the government to take back unspent COVID-19 funds and implement revised work requirements for individuals receiving federal benefits, among other things.

Greene weighed in on negotiations and the debt ceiling impasse during an episode of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast on Wednesday. While discussing the debt limit, Greene said she wants evidence that the U.S. will default from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who sent Congress another letter warning of the dire consequences a default would cause.

“If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, it would cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,” Yellen wrote in her letter on Monday.

Greene told Bannon that Republicans are “not sweating this at all.” She said members of her party are not “freaking out” or even concerned about the June 1 deadline, referring to it as a “mystery date that Janet Yellen has thrown out.”

Her comments echo those of fellow GOP Representative Matt Gaetz, who said on Tuesday that Yellen needs to “show her work” for how the secretary determined the deadline. The Florida Republican said he does not believe that the first of the month is a “real deadline.”

Greene called on Yellen to “show proof” and questioned why “all of a sudden” the default is going to occur on June 1, calling it “smoke and mirrors.”

“Like it’s going to actually crash America,” she said, adding that the only people “worked up” about the looming deadline are “probably the New York Stock exchange men.”

“Regular Americans living their lives day in and day out don’t worry about the government shutting down,” the Georgia Republican said.

Despite the congresswoman saying that “regular Americans” are not concerned, a recent poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a majority of Americans are anxious about the potential of defaulting on the nation’s trillions of dollars in debt. About 66 percent of respondents in the poll conducted earlier this month said that they are “extremely or very concerned” about the ramifications that would ensue if the national debt limit is not increased.

As the debt limit standoff continues on Capitol Hill, Biden has said that he is willing to work out a deal on spending cuts. However, the president said he will not allow Republicans to use raising the debt limit as a bargaining tool. GOP lawmakers said they will not make cuts to defense spending, Social Security, and Medicare, nor will they consider raising taxes for the wealthy. Democrats claimed that the Republicans’ list of demands would leave food, housing, and education programs vulnerable.

Both Biden and McCarthy have referred to recent talks as “productive” and said Congressional leaders agree that a “default is not really on the table.”